Phlogiston Theory
by Jen Kollic
Summary: "Find some way to contain her power, or I will." Famous last words for Princess Bubblegum. She should have known that Flame King would just take that as an open invitation to foist his responsibilities off onto her shoulders. AU story where Flame Princess is raised by PB, eventual pairings will be FP/Finn, PB/Marceline and (of course) Jake/Lady.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Adventure Time belongs to Pendleton Ward/Cartoon Network.

**A/N:** This is really just something I wrote to amuse myself, ever since I saw 'Earth and Water' I kept wondering to myself what would have happened if Flame King had just let Princess Bubblegum find a way to contain Flame Princess' power. It grew from there into "what if PB adopted her instead?" so this is the AU that resulted. I will possibly write more, but if I do it'll be a series of vignettes rather than a proper story. Also, baby Flame Princess is the most adorable thing that has ever appeared on the show.

* * *

**Phlogiston Theory**

"Find some way to contain her power, or I will." Princess Bubblegum glared at the Flame King as she spoke. She'd never have thought that she'd have missed the old King, but at least he had never abandoned his children on the surface. Not without an army at their backs anyway.

"Pssh, fine," Flame King replied dismissively. "You do it then. But not here."

Bubblegum frowned, glancing down at the baby in her arms, who gurgled at her happily, completely oblivious to the situation. "But she's your daughter," she said uncertainly. "You want me to just take her away? You'd LET me just take her away?"

"Yeah, whatever." The Flame King gave a dismissive flick of one wrist. "Do what you like with her, science junk, whatever. But be warned, Gum Princess…" He leaned down from his throne, his flames blazing to at least twice their usual height. "If you douse her, there will be consequences. Dire consequences."

"I'm not going to douse her!" Bubblegum replied indignantly. "I'm going to…" She broke off in mid-sentence as she realised that Flame King was laughing at her.

"Nah, just kidding," he chuckled. "No biggie if you douse her. Would actually suit me better come to think of it."

Princess Bubblegum was many things, ruler, scientist, diplomat, cold and ruthless logic-driven automaton if Marceline had anything to say about it, but nobody could have accused her of not caring for her subjects. And for Flame King to show such callous disregard not just to one of his subjects, but his own offspring, was a concept that was completely alien to her.

Hearing her father's laughter, the little flame elemental in Bubblegum's arms started to chuckle, her body glowing as she grew hotter. The princess was sure that the suit would be able to withstand the heat, it was made for travelling in the Fire Kingdom after all, but the arm the little girl was cradled in was getting uncomfortably warm so she switched her over to the other. Looking back at Flame King, she could see that he was grinning at her malevolently.

"Not going to be as easy as you thought, huh?" he asked, his grin widening at the look on her face. "Okay, how about you just drop her off in the woods to perish and we pretend this whole thing never happened, deal?"

"No deal," Bubblegum snapped. "I'm taking her back to the Candy Kingdom."

"Your funeral," Flame King shrugged. "Hope you like cremations over there. Oh, and if she burns it to the ground that means technically the Fire Kingdom's conquered it, so it becomes mine. It's the law. Are you even listening?"

Princess Bubblegum was, in fact, not listening at all as she turned her back on her fellow ruler and headed off back along the path that led to the surface. "Stupid Flame King…" she muttered under her breath, then glanced down at the tiny fire elemental she was carrying. The little princess was still looking up at her, but now she was also doing her level best to fit her foot into her mouth. Despite herself, Bubblegum smiled. "Well, I guess I'm going to have fun explaining this to Pepbut, huh little one?"

Flame Princess' only response was a muffled gurgle.

o.o.o.o.o

"Welcome back milady, how did the trip to the Fire Kingdom..." Peppermint Butler's voice trailed off as he saw that the princess was still carrying the infant fire elemental and looked distinctly displeased. "Not well then?" he asked, taking the protective suit's helmet from Bubblegum as she removed it.

"Well, Flame King is a butt, I knew that already," the princess said with a scowl. "But I didn't know just how big a butt he could be until now."

"Did he refuse to see you?" Peppermint Butler hurried along behind the princess as she headed upstairs to her laboratory. "He didn't care that you found his lost daughter?"

"She wasn't lost," Bubblegum replied, her expression softening slightly as she looked down at the baby princess who was cooing and chortling as if this was all some wonderful adventure for her. "He had her left on the surface on purpose."

The small mint man frowned. "If that's his idea of an invasion, he's certainly not the same tactician his brother was."

"It wasn't." Stepping into her lab, Bubblegum carried the little fire girl over to one of the fireproof work surfaces and gently set her down on it. "He just wanted rid of her because he thinks she'll usurp him."

"Well, he does rule the Fire Kingdom," Peppermint Butler shrugged. "That is a hazard of the job. So, what are you going to do with her?"

Rummaging in a drawer full of writing and drawing implements, Bubblegum pulled out a stick of artist's charcoal and carefully handed it to the baby princess. The little girl gurgled happily and started to gnaw on it toothlessly, like any candy child would have done with a stick of barley sugar. "I'm keeping her," she replied, as if it was obvious.

"But milady," Peppermint Butler protested. "She's a fire elemental! She's dangerous, especially since she's so small. She could set the entire castle ablaze. Wouldn't it be better to send her to the Rock Kingdom or the Gem Kingdom? Maybe even the Nightosphere, I'm sure Lord Abadeer..."

"It's not up for discussion Pepbut." Bubblegum's tone made it clear that she'd made up her mind already. "She's my responsibility now so I can't just pass her off to someone else. Besides," she added, leaning her elbows on the bench and studying the tiny princess with clinical detachment. "I'm sure I can find a way for her to control her powers."

Peppermint Butler wasn't so sure. The princess generally had good intentions, but those did pave the road to the Nightosphere, along with a significant portion of that dimension's civic spaces. He hadn't been around three centuries ago when Bubblegum had tried to isolate the compound that caused candy people to explode, but he'd seen the result on occasion and still jumped when anyone said the word 'unacceptable'. Someone else had been there though, and while dropping her name was risky, it was a chance he was willing to take if it meant not waking up on fire.

"Well..." he began hesitantly. "Maybe you should ask Ms Abadeer what she thinks?" Old Mr Creampuff had told him to be very, very careful when using that name, but also that it guaranteed results. He hadn't been wrong, Bubblegum's head immediately snapped towards him, but her glower indicated that this might not have been the best idea after all.

"Marceline?" the princess snapped, eyes narrowing. "Well, maybe if she hadn't upped and left one hundred and eighty-five years, three months and fourteen days ago I would ask her. But since I haven't even had so much as a letter from her, I hardly think she cares!" Her voice had risen to an angry shout, and the little fire elemental began to whimper at the noise. Bubblegum felt a rush of dry heat wash across her as the tiny girl's elemental matrix shifted in response to her emotions.

Picking the baby princess up again, Bubblegum rocked her soothingly. "Shhhhhh, it's okay, I'm not mad with you." She shot a sharp glance towards Peppermint Butler that clearly told him it had been a mistake to mention Marceline. "She's staying. End of discussion. I want you to go and fireproof a room for her like we'd do for any other visitors from the Fire Kingdom."

Groaning inwardly, the mint man bowed. "As you command milady." The little elemental had calmed and was now lying quietly in the candy princess' arms, gurgling as Bubblegum smiled at her. This time, Peppermint Butler's internal groan was heartfelt. He had never thought that the princess could possibly have a biological clock given her age and apparent immortality, but maybe he'd been wrong. "You're not getting attached, are you Peebles?"

"Pssh." The noise Bubblegum made was just as dismissive as the similar one the Flame King had made earlier. "Don't be silly Pepbut, this is for science."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Adventure Time belongs to Pendleton Ward/Cartoon Network.

**A/N:** Thanks to Rinney for proof-reading. This AU is still holding my attention, but I will totally be going back to 'As The World Falls Down' next before I forget where I was going with that one. Also, if you do not know what Platonic solids are, look on Wikipedia. If you're a tabletop roleplayer/gamer like me, you should find them very, very familiar...

* * *

Strapped securely into a fireproof chair, the little fire princess burbled and gurgled to herself, reaching up to bat at the polyhedral shapes dangling over her head. They were made of tempered glass, and reflected the flames of her hair in tempting flashes that caught her eyes. Princess Bubblegum hadn't been entirely happy about sacrificing them to keep her amused between tests, but it wasn't like she couldn't make a new set of Platonic solids.

The candy princess was on the other side of a viewing window, also made of tempered glass, looking down into the small, heat- shielded room where the baby elemental currently sat. The previously grey insulated walls were already scorched black in places, even though she'd only started her research that morning. So far she'd learned that the little girl's median temperature was around 318.15 degrees Kelvin, but fluctuated depending on whether she was hungry or bored. That reminded her, she'd need more charcoal. Being left alone for too long seemed to upset her, which spiked her temperature to over 370 Kelvin, just short of boiling water.

Thankfully the glass shapes seemed to be distracting the tiny princess now, giving Bubblegum the opportunity to finish her notes. As she continued to write, Peppermint Butler entered the room with an armful of old video tapes.

"Here you are, milady," he said as he set the tapes down on the bench beside the VCR. "I searched the archives and found something funny, something sad and something scary."

"Thanks, P-Butt," the princess replied, finishing the last paragraph of her initial observations and flipping to a new page. She headed it with "Emotional Responses", and under that wrote the sub-heading 'Amusement'. "Could you put the funny one on first please?"

"Not a problem." Inserting the tape into the VCR, the mint man hit play. A video screen flashed on in the room below, directly in front of the little elemental and protected by a thick layer of insulated glass. The image displayed took a few moments to focus, then displayed the green hills of the countryside around the Candy Kingdom.

Flame Princess stopped reaching for the glass shapes and looked at the screen instead, her temperature rising a few degrees in curiosity. Then something else appeared on the screen, a white horse deftly balancing on a beach ball which it used to bounce across the grass. For a moment she looked bewildered and then started to chortle and kick.

Even Princess Bubblegum couldn't help a soft chuckle as the horse continued to roll itself along with expert movements, noting the little girl's rising temperature. It seemed to even out again as it reached 350 Kelvin, not reaching as high as it did when she was upset.

On the screen, the horse stopped abruptly, threw back its head and neighed its name "Joh-oh-oh-ohn Baaaaaaxter." At that, the tiny elemental screamed with laughter, small hands flailing in amusement as her temperature shot up by another fifty degrees. If there had been any water in the room with her, it would have evaporated in seconds.

"Whatever happened to that guy?" Bubblegum asked, looking at the recorded temperatures on the monitoring equipment to see if she could spot any patterns or algorithms in the way the little girl's combustion levels fluctuated.

"I think he settled down and started a family," Peppermint Butler replied. "But I do still see him around from time to time."

The baby elemental continued to laugh as she watched the horse prance around on his ball, stopping now and then to whinny his name which never failed to provoke an extra blast of heat. After a few minutes the recording finished and the screen faded to black. Flame Princess was too busy laughing to notice at first, but then her giggles slowed as she realised it had gone. Her heat levels slowly dropped back to normal, or at least as normal as they could be for a fire elemental, but then began to rise again as she squirmed and fussed in the seat, obviously missing John Baxter.

"Next tape please," Princess Bubblegum said, writing the subheading 'Sadness' in her notebook. Peppermint Butler changed the VCR tape, and the screen flashed back into life. This time however, the footage was from Sad Kitten Island after a flood, and the scene depicted was a group of bedraggled, doe-eyed kittens huddled in the branches of a tree, mewing plaintively.

The little princess stopped her developing tantrum as she saw the screen light up, but this time she stared at it in bewilderment, not sure what to make of it. She chuckled briefly as one of the kittens slipped and fell off the branch to land in the mud, then lost interest completely and started to play with the Platonic solids hanging above her.

"Hmmm. Maybe she's a bit young for sadness," Bubblegum commented, making a note of that then writing the final subheading. 'Fear'. "Go ahead with the next one Pepbut."

"Very well milady." Ejecting the kitten tape, Peppermint Butler replaced it with the final tape, old security camera footage that he'd found in the archive. It was certainly scary, he could swear to that one.

The video was grainy from age, but it seemed to have been taken from the city walls, pointed out towards the grasslands. Princess Bubblegum frowned as she watched it, it looked like it must have been taken decades ago, the trees looked much shorter. She couldn't see what was scary about it and wondered what Peppermint Butler had been thinking to choose it. Then the screen went dark as a grotesque face popped up right in front of the camera, as if it was leering through the centuries right at them. It had empty black pits for eyes lit by lurid green sparks that glowed with sheer malice, and the lower portion of its face had been torn away, exposing the jawbone and jagged teeth. The Lich.

The sight of the monster froze Bubblegum in place, her heart pounding in fear even though she knew the creature was imprisoned in amber in the tree at the centre of the castle. It froze Flame Princess as well, the tiny elemental staring wide-eyed at the screen as if mesmerized. Then she shrieked in outright terror and began to wail, struggling uselessly against the seat's restraints as she tried to get away from the Lich's malevolent gaze.

The sound snapped the candy princess out of her fugue, and she shook her head to clear it. "Turn it off!" she ordered, her voice cracking. "Are you crazy?! What in Glob's name made you think that was appropriate?"

"You said you wanted scary!" Peppermint Butler retaliated as he stopped the tape. "And that was the scariest thing I could find!"

"I didn't mean terrify her out of her wits!" Bubblegum snapped, starting to pull on the protective suit she'd used in the Fire Kingdom. "A ghost or something would have been fine, but the Lich?" With a frustrated grunt, she headed for the sealed door into the test chamber. She could still hear Flame Princess screaming from inside the room, and the sound seemed to twist painfully in her chest. Or was that guilt?

"Princess, I really don't think that's a good idea!" Behind her, Peppermint Butler sounded panicked. "According to the sensors, the test chamber's over eight hundred degrees Kelvin… maybe you should let her calm down first?"

"You mean just sit here and listen to her screaming like that?" The candy princess' voice was incredulous. "No way. Besides, the suit can take up to a thousand Kelvin anyway." However, despite her words Bubblegum flinched as she opened the door, the heat hitting her like a blast from an industrial furnace. But then the sound of the little elemental's cries hit her too. Gritting her teeth, she moved forward purposely towards her, feeling sweat already trickling down her back.

Reaching down to release Flame Princess from the seat, Bubblegum automatically recoiled as the heat grew even more intense, hot enough to melt aluminium or zinc easily. The tempered glass shapes hanging above her were glowing white-hot, and the candy princess felt her skin of her hands and arms tingle and ripple as her own molecular structure was affected. The little elemental was glowing too, her tiny body outlined in intense flames as she screamed.

Taking a deep breath, Bubblegum reminded herself that it would take more than simple heat to return her to her original protoplasmic state. Crouching beside the seat, she unhooked the carbon fibre restraints holding Flame Princess in place and lifted her gently, faint wisps of smoke rising from the sleeves of the protective suit as they were scorched by contact with the fire girl.

"It's okay," Bubblegum said soothingly, rocking the little elemental just as she would have done with an infant candy person. Only in this case, she could feel intense heat starting to sear her arms. "The bad monster's gone; nothing's going to hurt you." To her increasing discomfort, Flame Princess' response was to burrow into the fireproof suit for comfort, burying her face in the candy princess' chest as she continued to sob. Bubblegum had to bite back a yelp of shock as flame engulfed her, thankfully the suit didn't burn but she could feel her hair starting to distort and drip. It was closer to the structure of her original form than the rest of her was, and much more heat would probably melt it right off. That would be embarrassing at the very least.

Although she was tempted to hold the tiny fire girl at arms-length, Bubblegum knew that wouldn't be very productive. Flame Princess was only a baby and needed the physical contact to soothe her like all infants. Bubblegum would just have to hope that she calmed down before the protective suit got hot enough to burn her skin. Continuing to rock and shush her, the candy princess slowly walked up and down the test chamber, glancing upwards to see Peppermint Butler at the observation window, watching her with a look of sheer horror. She could only hope that he hadn't interfered with the monitoring equipment, since he clearly wasn't taking any notes.

The flames around her began to gutter and die as Flame Princess' sobs died down into sniffles and Bubblegum breathed a long sigh of relief as she felt the temperature start to fall. "There we go," she said gently, looking down at the little girl. "Poor Flame Princess, did that horrible monster scare you? I'm sorry sweetheart, I should have checked the videos first. I didn't even know we HAD a video of that mean old Lich… which I should probably destroy now that I think about it, before it makes anyone explode. It's lucky you're not a candy person, huh?"

Flame Princess was far too young to understand what Bubblegum was saying, but was comforted by the sound of her voice and gradually stopped crying. The thing that had frightened her had gone away, she could see that now, and she settled back down to her normal heat level. She gurgled as the candy princess smiled at her, reaching up towards her with tiny hands.

Tugging off the suit's now uncomfortably humid helmet with one hand, Bubblegum breathed a sigh of relief. The air in the test chamber was still hot and dry enough to scorch her throat, but it beat having to breathe a mist of her own sweat. Long, half-melted strands of her hair pulled away with the helmet, but thankfully most of it seemed intact as she shook it out. Once she was sure that Flame Princess' combustion levels had dropped to the point where she wouldn't set things on fire just by being in the same room, Bubblegum carried her back up into the observation chamber.

Peppermint Butler stared at her in stunned disbelief as the princess walked back into the room, apparently amazed that she'd made it out intact. "Uhhhh… your highness? Are you feeling all right? You seem very… not melted."

"I told you the suit could take it," she replied dismissively. "Though there's bits of my hair all over the inside now, could you please clean that later? I'm going to take Flame Princess back to her room."

"Of course milady." Peppermint Butler paused as he glanced down at his schedule. "What about this afternoon's tests?"

"I think we've both had enough science for today," Bubblegum replied, looking down at the little elemental. Flame Princess had managed to grab a handful of gummy pink hair, which Bubblegum hadn't even noticed being torn out, and was squeezing it between her hands like putty and giggling, the Lich forgotten. Then it caught fire and burned to a cinder, giving off a strong burnt sugar smell. "Also I'll need a cold bath to set my hair again. And leave that tape of the Lich there," she added over her shoulder as she carried Flame Princess out into the corridor. "I'm going to make sure it's destroyed once I've gotten Flame Princess settled."

There was a pause as Bubblegum looked down at the tiny girl. "Flame Princess is a bit of a mouthful isn't it? How about I call you Feuer instead? That means fire, so it suits you. Do you like that?" The little elemental was crumbling the cinders of Bubblegum's hair between her hands but looked up at the sound of her voice and gurgled. "I'll take that as a yes then."

Peppermint Butler sighed. "You're giving her a name now?"

"She already has a name P-Butt," Bubblegum responded. "Feuer is just a nickname. Don't read so much into it."

"Of course not milady…" the mint man sighed, fetching a broom from the utility closet in the observation room and going into the test chamber to sweep up the mess of ashes and droplets of molten bubblegum hair. "It's all for science after all…"


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** Adventure Time belongs to Pendleton Ward/Cartoon Network.

**A/N:** Thanks to Rinney and Anna for proof-reading. I think Peppermint Butler is actually a worse babysitter than Cinnamon Bun. At least Cinnamon Bun tries.

* * *

"OH GROD SHE'S LOOSE!" If the screams from the castle halls above the cellar hadn't been enough to indicate that perhaps leaving Cinnamon Bun to watch Flame Princess hadn't been one of Peppermint Butler's better ideas, Starchy's panicked yell would have sealed it. With an irritable sigh, the small mint man blew out the candles of his summoning circle and kicked the salt and ash lining the sigils marked on the floor apart.

With Princess Bubblegum gone to one of her science conferences he'd been hoping to have enough time to himself to summon Ogdoad, since he still had a dispute to settle there, but apparently that was too much to ask. He'd thought that even Cinnamon Bun could have handled the relatively simple task of replaying the tape of John Baxter over and over for Flame Princess until she fell asleep, since that was Peppermint Butler's tried and tested babysitting procedure, but again he'd been asking too much.

Climbing out of the cellar and back into the kitchen, the mint man closed the trapdoor behind him and pushed the rug back over it, then went out into the main hall to check on the damage. He couldn't see any smoke so far, which was a good sign, but he also couldn't see any of the castle staff or Flame Princess, though he could hear the sound of screams and running feet from the corridors. In the month since Princess Bubblegum had brought the little elemental back from the Fire Kingdom this sort of thing had happened on occasion, but this was the first time that Flame Princess had gotten out without Bubblegum being there to deal with it.

As Peppermint Butler moved into the corridor, the screams grew louder and a small group of servants sprinted past, screaming in terror. They were followed by the small, blazing form of Flame Princess who was chasing them and giggling, apparently thinking this was all a game. Luckily she was wearing socks and gloves of the fireproof carbon-weave fabric that Princess Bubblegum had devised, which stopped her setting fire to things just by touching them. Unfortunately, the little elemental was still perfectly capable of bursting into flame and could still ignite other people by hugging them. Added to that, the heat-resistant coating on the socks gave her better traction, so now she could run faster without falling over.

Peppermint Butler took a few steps back in the hope that Flame Princess wouldn't see him but to his relief she didn't even glance at him, too busy trying to catch the fleeing candy people. Then, as she followed them up a flight of stairs, he heard another familiar voice.

"Hey, that's not hiding princess!" Cinnamon Bun appeared at the same end of the corridor that Flame Princess had emerged from, but not running nearly as fast. "That's not how you play hide and seek."

"Cinnamon Bun!" Peppermint snapped as the dim-witted pastry went past him. "You were supposed to keep her in her room, how did she get out?"

Lurching to a halt, almost losing his balance in the process, Cinnamon Bun turned to face the mint man. "Oh, that was boring so we decided to play hide and seek and I was seeking first so I let her out and counted to ten and that took a while but now she's not hiding. I'm seeking anyway, but she's pretty fast for a little thing."

"You were supposed to play the video for her," Peppermint said through his teeth. "I thought you loved John Baxter?"

"Well yeah," Cinnamon Bun replied. "But then it finished and we got bored."

"Why didn't you just rewind it?" the mint man demanded, though he already had a sneaking suspicion of where his plan had gone wrong. Cinnamon Bun confirmed his theory by giving him a blank look.

"What's rewind?"

Before Peppermint Butler could reply, the sound of shrieks and running feet grew closer again and the fleeing servants poured back down the staircase and scattered, obviously deciding to take their chances separately. All they had to do was outrun each other after all.

"There you are!" Unlike every other candy person, though perhaps not surprisingly, Cinnamon Bun chose to run towards the tiny elemental as she appeared at the top of the stairs, waving her arms and chortling in delight. "I found you princess, now it's your turn to seek."

"Wait, Cinnamon Bun, don't let her…" Before Peppermint Butler could finish, Flame Princess did exactly what he was afraid of and lost her footing on the stairs, tripping and falling down them with a squeal of surprise. "…ohhhhhh, Peebles is going to kill me…" he moaned, looking away and waiting for the inevitable screams when the fire girl hit the bottom.

Instead what he heard was a wet thud, followed by a splat and the soft sizzle of caramelizing sugar. Looking back round, the mint man saw that Flame Princess had collided with Cinnamon Bun on the stairs, and the impact had knocked him backwards to land on the floor at the foot of the stairs, cushioning her fall. He wasn't on fire, which was somewhat disappointing, but the little princess had melted his frosting where she'd hit him, and was now firmly stuck to him, still giggling happily.

Peppermint Butler sighed, starting to wish he'd stayed in the cellar after all. "Well, at least now nobody can say you didn't win at hide and seek, huh?"

o.o.o.o.o

"Ow, ow, ow, ow..."

"If you don't shut up, I'll leave her stuck to you," Peppermint Butler warned, pulling hard on the oversized spatula he was using to pry Flame Princess out of Cinnamon Bun's frosting. The molten sugar had solidified into a rock-hard bond, and while he was very, very tempted to find something to frighten the little elemental so that she'd burn herself free, that probably wouldn't end well for Cinnamon Bun. It would certainly be entertaining, but Princess Bubblegum wouldn't be happy with that solution.

"Awwww, I don't mind," Cinnamon Bun replied. "I like Flame Princess. And this makes watching her real easy."

"Yes, but I'M supposed to be watching her." Peppermint Butler grunted as he hauled on the spatula as hard as he could. He'd pretty much dragged Cinnamon Bun back up to Flame Princess' room, hoping that he could get her free and cleaned up before Bubblegum got back. Then he could pretend this whole thing never happened.

"Then why did you tell me to watch her?" Cinnamon Bun asked, genuinely bewildered. Peppermint Butler didn't reply, instead throwing his weight back and forth against the spatula handle with inarticulate sounds of rage.

Flame Princess chortled as the spatula bounced her up and down, finding this very entertaining. As her combustion level began to rise correspondingly, the caramelized sugar sticking her in place slowly began to soften. And as Peppermint Butler launched himself at the spatula with a frustrated yell she came free, catapulting across the room to hit the far wall and stick there upside-down, halfway between floor and ceiling.

"GROB GOB GLOB AND GROD!" Throwing the sticky spatula down, Peppermint Butler jumped on it, fuming. "This is just PERFECT!"

Cinnamon Bun on the other hand just laughed, despite now having a raw, bare patch on his front that was shaped vaguely like a small fire elemental. "Awwwww, she's happy. Isn't that nice?"

Flame Princess certainly didn't seem at all upset by her brief flight and collision with the wall, waving her hands at the two candy people as she chuckled and gurgled. If anything, she seemed to have enjoyed it. Unfortunately, it also seemed like she was now well and truly stuck since the molten sugar had set again and now she was too high up for either of them to reach. And frightening her was even less of an option what with the very real possibility that the little elemental would also set the castle on fire.

"Go and get a ladder," Peppermint ground out between his teeth, glaring at the giggling fire girl as if this was all her fault.

"Okay!" Cinnamon Bun replied helpfully, turning towards the door. "Hi Princess Bubblegum!"

Jumping in nervous shock, Peppermint Butler quickly turned around to be confronted by the candy princess, who was standing in the doorway looking far from pleased. "Princess! I, uh, didn't think you'd be back till tomorrow…"

"No, I said I would be back on the Morrow," Bubblegum's voice was icy. "Would you mind explaining what Flame Princess is doing stuck to a wall six feet from the ground?"

Peppermint Butler considered his options, then pointed at Cinnamon Bun accusingly. "He did it!"

Bubblegum briefly switched her baleful gaze to Cinnamon Bun, who waved at her cheerfully, then back to Peppermint Butler. "While you were supposed to be watching her?"

"Uhhhh…" Peppermint thought about that for a moment, then decided that repentance would be the best course of action and grovelled instead. "I'm sorry milady, I was busy with my other duties so I asked Cinnamon Bun to watch her for a moment and, well, he's Cinnamon Bun…" Glancing up at the princess, he saw that she was no longer glaring at him, now she was looking at Flame Princess instead, and trying not to smile.

Flame Princess had stretched out both arms towards the candy princess, reaching for her as if she wanted to be picked up despite already being higher than Bubblegum could reach. She knew her by sight now and even if the candy princess still denied that she was getting attached to the little elemental, Flame Princess obviously didn't share that sentiment.

"Pull a chair over to her Pepbutt," Bubblegum ordered, pulling on a long pair of gloves and a full-length apron made of the same fireproof fabric she'd used for Flame Princess' socks and gloves. She'd found the fireproof suit too cumbersome and clumsy for regular wear, the carbon-fibre material was much lighter and still absorbed enough heat to allow the candy princess to lift the little elemental without being burned.

Climbing up onto the chair that Peppermint Butler had placed for her, Princess Bubblegum reached up to gently tickle the little elemental, who giggled and kicked in response, starting to glow brighter as she grew hotter. Again, the increasing heat softened the melted sugar, and after a few minutes Flame Princess fell off the wall and into Bubblegum's waiting arms, immediately sticking to her gloves.

"There," the candy princess said as she stepped down and fixed Peppermint Butler with a stern look. "I don't know how she got up there, I don't want to know, but it better not happen again. What if she'd fallen?"

"Oh, she could just have landed on me again," Cinnamon Bun put in brightly. "I don't mind."

"No Cinnamon Bun," Bubblegum sighed. "That's really not… wait, what do you mean 'again'?"

Peppermint Butler had managed to edge around the room almost to the door when he heard Cinnamon Bun explain exactly what he'd meant by 'again', and silently cursed as he waited for the inevitable yell from the princess. He already knew this wasn't one of his better days, but somehow it just kept managing to get worse…


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** Adventure Time belongs to Pendleton Ward/Cartoon Network.

**A/N:** Thanks to Rinney and Anna for proof-reading, and also thanks to everyone who has reviewed/followed/favourited! This started out as just a silly one-off AU but I am thinking of merging it with the show timeline, only things would happen a bit differently what with Flame Princess being around from the beginning. So there would be eventual Finn/Flame Princess and also Bubblegum/Marceline when Marcy finally decides to show up again. Does that sound like something you guys would want to read?

* * *

Princess Bubblegum leaned against the viewing window, looking down into the test chamber where Flame Princess was sitting amidst a pile of charred paper. The little elemental wasn't restrained, free to toddle around the room as she pleased. The only reasons that she wasn't allowed the same freedom in the rest of the castle were that most of the candy people were still terrified of her, and she still had a tendency to burst into flames if she tripped or ran into a closed door. She was only a few months old, so Bubblegum was hopeful that she could teach her not to do that in time.

From her studies, the candy princess was now sure that the fire girl had some level of control over her powers, even if it was only rudimentary at present. Flame Princess seemed to love bright colours and was currently halfway through melting a bucket of crayons. Bubblegum watched as the little girl picked up an emerald green one, which began to melt and distort in her grasp. But unlike the first dozen or so, it wasn't reduced to a puddle of wax in seconds, Flame Princess seemed to have realised they kept doing that and was making an effort not to melt it.

"That's right," Bubblegum said encouragingly, even though there was no way that the little elemental could hear her through the thick glass. "You're learning."

Putting the crayon to the singed paper in front of her, Flame Princess scrawled a thick green line across it. It was already covered in multicoloured handprints from where previous crayons had melted in her grip, but this was the first time she'd actually managed to draw something. With a delighted chuckle, the little elemental scribbled wildly across the paper, then picked up another crayon in her other hand, a pink one this time, and started to draw with that one as well.

Bubblegum giggled softly as she watched Flame Princess continue to scribble on the paper, wondering if she was actually trying to make a picture or just enjoying the colours. Whatever it was, the little princess certainly found it entertaining, gurgling happily as she covered the paper in a layer of multicoloured wax.

It happened very suddenly. One moment Flame Princess was drawing, the next there was a bright flash of flame and the paper in front of her was reduced to ash, the crayons in her hands melting completely and dripping to the floor. Bubblegum sighed; the little elemental must have gotten too excited and lost whatever control she had over her combustion levels. Flame Princess didn't seem to have realised quite what had happened, gazing in bewilderment at the pile of cinders that had been paper a moment ago. Then her face fell as she whimpered and the temperature of the test chamber rose as she started to cry.

Before the little elemental could get too worked up, Bubblegum went into the chamber and picked her up, already wearing her protective gloves and apron. "It's okay Feuer, I can get you more crayons," she said soothingly, holding Flame Princess in the crook of one arm. Even though she was crying, the tiny fire girl wasn't burning nearly as hot as she had the day she'd been terrified by the Lich video. She settled again as she looked up at the candy princess, smiling at her toothlessly.

Bubblegum smiled back, brushing strands of fiery hair back from the little girl's face with a gloved hand. "Let's see now," she began, starting to pace up and down the chamber as she often did while deep in thought, only this time carrying Flame Princess with her. "Fireproofing the crayons probably wouldn't do much good, because I would have to do that by mixing them with a heat resistant polymer or something. And if I did that, they wouldn't work very well at all because they'd be harder, and they need to react with friction on the paper to draw, don't they?"

Flame Princess' only response was garbled baby sounds, but she was still looking up at Bubblegum attentively as the candy princess continued talking. "Paper isn't a very good material for you either because it's just too flammable. Maybe I could use fire-resistant cloth? No, that definitely wouldn't work, I'd need to change the composition of the crayons to get them to draw on fabric with any effectiveness, and that wouldn't be compatible with heatproofing polymers either..." Stopping her pacing, Bubblegum looked slowly around the test chamber as if in search of inspiration.

"Come on Bonnibel, if you're half the genius you think you are, the answer should be clear as…" Her words trailed off as she looked up at the test chamber's window. "…glass," she finished thoughtfully. "Hmmmm…"

o.o.o.o.o

"Uhhhhh, milady, are you sure this is wise?" Peppermint Butler asked nervously as he watched the princess tightening the bolts on the miniature glass furnace.

"Well it's not going to hurt her P-butt," Bubblegum replied, tugging hard on the wrench to make sure the bolts were secure. She definitely didn't want molten glass leaking everywhere. "She's a fire elemental, she could put her hand in this thing and it would be like putting it in water for you or me. And besides, she needs something to keep her occupied."

Peppermint Butler rolled his eyes, knowing that the princess couldn't see him from behind the furnace. "Well, forgive me for speaking plainly milady…"

"…don't you always…" Bubblegum muttered, half to herself.

"…but I still think you should reconsider," the mint man finished. "Yes, Flame Princess may be completely immune to heat, but I was more thinking of the floor, the walls, other people and the like. You did say you were trying to teach her control after all, so a hobby that requires extreme levels of heat may not be the best choice. With respect, milady."

There was a long pause as the candy princess thought it over, tapping the wrench against her palm. Peppermint Butler did have a very good point there, she'd been so caught up with her idea that she hadn't looked at the implications of letting Flame Princess play with molten glass. To keep it in a liquid state it would need to stay at over 2000 degrees Kelvin, more than twice as hot as the little elemental had burned when she was upset. On consideration, encouraging the little elemental to burn hotter rather than cooler was probably not the best idea if she wanted to teach her control.

"Okay Peppermint, I admit it," she said grudgingly. "You're right. Do you have any suggestions for an alternative?"

"As a matter of fact I do," he replied with a self-satisfied grin that immediately raised Bubblegum's suspicions.

"If this involves the Nightosphere then I swear to Glob…" She left the sentence hanging, the threat clear, but Peppermint Butler shook his head.

"No, no, of course not!" He couldn't hold back a nervous giggle though, since he did have more than a few ideas involving the realm of chaos, but none of them involved Flame Princess. Not at the moment anyway. "I was thinking that sugar might be a better idea Peebles, we have plenty of it, it melts much more easily, we can dye it bright colours, and if she gets bored of playing with it she can eat it."

"And it'll burn if her combustion levels are too high," Bubblegum added thoughtfully, rubbing her chin. "So that would help her learn control as well. That's a really good idea Pepbutt."

"Why thank you milady," he replied with a bow. He had absolutely no intention of telling her that he'd gotten the idea from Cinnamon Bun. Or rather, from the way the little elemental had melted his frosting…

o.o.o.o.o

"Okay, let's give this a try then," Bubblegum said to the little fire girl who was sitting in her lap on the floor of the test chamber. In front of them was a large white ceramic tile, and to one side was a laboratory hot plate that the princess had jury-rigged into a heated palette with the addition of a copper sheet that she'd hammered several depressions into. She'd set it to 450 Kelvin, so the handfuls of coloured sugar that she'd placed in each depression were now pools of viscous caramel.

Putting a long-handled copper spoon into Flame Princess' hand, Bubblegum showed her how to scoop up a small amount of bright red caramel and moved her hand over to the tile. The little elemental watched the molten sugar drip onto the white tile curiously then slapped it with the spoon, transforming the droplets into a large splatter. That definitely got her attention, Flame Princess giggled at the mess she'd made and hit it with the spoon a few more times for good measure.

The caramel was already cooling and solidifying on contact with the tile, so again Bubblegum moved the little girl's hand back to the copper palette to get more. This time Flame Princess didn't need to be shown what to do with it, she brought it back over to the tile and catapulted the coloured caramel in its general direction with the spoon, spattering it across one corner. Laughing uproariously now, the little elemental gathered more molten sugar with the spoon and added it to the mess, using the utensil to spread lines of it across the surface of the tile.

"How is it working out, Peebles?" Peppermint Butler asked, looking cautiously around the door but not entering the room.

"I think it's working really…" Princess Bubblegum made the mistake of taking her eyes off the fire girl as she replied, and before she could stop her Flame Princess had grabbed the entire palette and upended it over the tile, sending streams of multi-coloured caramel everywhere. As if that wasn't enough, she then started hitting it as hard as she could with the spoon, splattering molten sugar in every direction.

"I think it's working," Bubblegum corrected herself. "But it could definitely do with some refining. Feuer, no!" She took the spoon off Flame Princess before she could spread the mess any further. "I'm glad you like it, but if you make this much mess with sugar then you'll just end up stuck to something again, won't you?" The candy princess did her best to sound firm, but her stern expression cracked into a smile as the little elemental looked up at her, her face spattered with colourful sugar droplets. "You are so lumping lucky that I can't stay mad at you, you know that? And that I can't give you a bath," she added. "I really need to come up with a way to keep you clean that doesn't involve water…"

"Wa'at."Flame Princess replied, then giggled.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** Adventure Time belongs to Pendleton Ward/Cartoon Network.

**A/N:** Thanks to Rinney and Anna for proof-reading. After speaking to them about writing Lady Rainicorn's dialogue I decided to leave it in English rather than translate it to Korean with Google, because when I translated it back to English it never made sense. She is still speaking Korean of course, but as Bubblegum understands her I've 'translated' what she's saying._ [This is Lady speaking Korean] _Hopefully that makes sense.

* * *

"I'm so sorry Lady, I had no idea I'd been shut away so long," Princess Bubblegum apologised as the rainicorn landed opposite her at the table on the balcony, her lower body coiling around it. "It really doesn't feel like it's been four months..."

_[I'm not surprised,]_ Lady replied, laughing. [_If you didn't have Peppermint Butler I'd worry about you forgetting to eat…]_

"Pepbutt is good at reminding me to eat," Bubblegum admitted. "And shower. He doesn't even try to be diplomatic about that. But that is one of the reasons Mr Creampuff recommended him as his replacement." Pouring two cups of tea from the pot in front of her, the princess handed one of them to Lady, who sipped at it delicately. "I should probably explain what I've been doing," Bubblegum began, self-consciously looking down at the gloves and apron she was wearing. "There is a reason I'm wearing this..."

_[Go ahead, I'm listening.]_ The rainicorn regarded Bubblegum with polite interest, though she was inwardly hoping that this wasn't going to be a science lecture again. She loved the candy princess like a sister, but Bubblegum didn't always realise that not everyone shared her passion for knowledge and invention.

Turning towards the balcony's open door, Bubblegum leaned down and called gently. "Feuer? Come and meet Lady Rainicorn."

Lady tilted her head to one side curiously, wondering if the princess had been experimenting with her candy person formula again. She'd thought that Bubblegum had sworn that off after her last change to it had created Lemongrab. Then, to her great surprise, a small humanoid figure came running towards them that was definitely not a candy person. A candy person wouldn't have been on fire.

Running straight to Bubblegum, Flame Princess gurgled as the candy princess lifted her onto her lap and gave her a stick of charcoal to chew on. She looked at the rainicorn with interest, and in turn Lady stared at her in open-mouthed shock.

_[How did... You never said anything...]_ Looking from the little elemental to Bubblegum and back again, Lady was having trouble trying to think of a way she could phrase her questions, and she had quite a lot of them, in a polite manner. The child was clearly a fire person, so the candy princess couldn't have created her. Not in a laboratory anyway. [_Wasn't that painful?]_ She blurted the question out without thinking, then blushed. [_I mean... I don't understand how that could work with all the fire…]_

"Wait, what?" Bubblegum's look of bemusement vanished as she realised what her friend was thinking. "Oh!" She gave an awkward laugh. "She's, uh, not actually mine. I sort of adopted her."

_[Ah, I see.] _Lady Rainicorn laughed as well in a mixture of embarrassment and relief. [_I'm sorry, Princess. I just couldn't imagine how it would have worked if she was yours. Well, I could imagine, but it wasn't pleasant...]_

Bubblegum was blushing as well now, while Flame Princess had started to laugh with Lady Rainicorn even though she had no idea of what was being said. "Yes, well, this is Flame Princess, but I call her Feuer for short. How she ended up here is a bit of a long story and it still makes me angry."

_[Hello, Flame Princess,]_ Lady said gently, stretching her neck across the table to get a good look at the little elemental. [_You're very cute, aren't you?]_ Even if Flame Princess had been able to understand Korean, she was still too young to know what Lady was saying, but she reached out to put both hands on her nose before Bubblegum could stop her

"Be careful, she might…" The candy princess' voice trailed off as she saw that absolutely nothing had happened, Flame Princess was stroking the fur on Lady's nose, which wasn't even singed, as the rainicorn chuckled softly.

_[It's all right princess, she won't hurt me,] _Lady said reassuringly._ [Not unless she intended to anyway, she just feels like strong sunlight at the moment.]_

"Of course, I was forgetting that you'd be used to the suns in the Crystal Dimension, I should have remembered that rainicorns are more heat-tolerant than candy people." Bubblegum set Flame Princess back down on the floor, and the little elemental immediately started to clamber on to Lady's back. "Feuer! That's not polite."

_[It's all right, I don't mind,] _the rainicorn said as Bubblegum moved to pick the fire girl up again. [_If she gets too hot I'll just let her phase through me, but the heat would need to be much more intense before it would burn me.]_

"Well, if she does start getting hotter then please put her down, even if she's not burning you," Bubblegum requested, watching as Flame Princess buried her face in Lady's blonde mane. "I'm trying to teach her that getting too hot is bad. She's learning, but I need to be consistent with her. And don't let her pull your hair; she needs to understand that's bad."

_[Very well,]_ the rainicorn agreed, shifting position a little to stop Flame Princess from falling off her back. [_Anyway… you said that why she's here is a long story that makes you angry? I'd still like to hear it.]_

Princess Bubblegum sighed, glancing towards the little elemental and glad that she couldn't understand her. "Well, all right," she began. "It started when I noticed a forest fire…"

o.o.o.o.o

"...so I brought her back here." Princess Bubblegum sighed as she finished the story, pouring out more cups of tea for herself and Lady. Flame Princess had fallen asleep on the rainicorn's back, half-hidden by her mane, but Lady had been listening attentively to the candy princess, her expression almost as stunned as it had been earlier when she'd thought the little elemental was her child.

_[He wanted you to leave her in the woods to perish?]_ Lady's voice was just as shocked as her expression. [_How could anyone do that?]_

"I don't understand either, Lady." Bubblegum replied. "I mean... I've not always made the best decisions, Grod knows I know that, but I could never just abandon one of my children. Even with Lemongrab I did my best, even if I had to leave him alone in the end."

_[Doesn't he still have servants?]_ Lady asked. [_I know he sent most of them away, but surely he still has some.]_

"Only if he's gotten new ones, he exiled the last of the ones I gave him last year," the princess explained. "He said it was for treason and that I was trying to use them to kill him."

_[That's ridiculous,]_ the rainicorn scoffed, sipping her tea._ [What did they do?]_

Bubblegum sighed again. "One of them made his tea too hot, which he took as an assassination attempt. The next made his tea to cold, which was also an attempted assassination. And the last one was too round, which offended him."

Lady began to laugh, but stopped as she saw the look on Bubblegum's face._ [Did you try to speak to him about it?]_

"I tried to, yes," Bubblegum had propped her head up on both elbows, staring off into the distance. "He wouldn't even let me into his castle. He just stood on the roof screaming and throwing kitchenware at me until I went away. Since then I've left him alone. He's happier that way."

The rainicorn shrugged slightly, careful not to disturb Flame Princess. _You tried, _she said comfortingly. _[If he's happier alone then maybe it's better this way.]_

"I just wish I knew where I went wrong," Bubblegum said quietly. "He doesn't explode when he freaks out, so at least I got that right, but he never seems to stop freaking out." Shaking off her melancholy, the candy princess straightened up in her seat. "Anyway. I'm not going to make the same mistakes with Flame Princess."

_[Lemongrab is only one out of hundreds of your candy people.]_ Lady's voice was reassuring. [_I'm sure Flame Princess will turn out fine. She hasn't tried to bite me yet or anything.]_

"Well, she'd need teeth for that first," Bubblegum replied, smiling despite herself. "Thanks Lady, our talks always help."

_[Any time, Princess.]_ Lady smiled back, leaning across the table to nuzzle Bubblegum affectionately. _[And let me know if you need a babysitter.]_

o.o.o.o.o

Flame Princess was beginning to get the hang of painting with caramel, now she was making crude, blobby shapes with the molten sugar instead of random splatters. Bubblegum was starting to wonder if the pink blobs the little elemental kept making were supposed to be her, or if Flame Princess just liked pink.

As the candy princess entered the test chamber, Flame Princess looked around at the sound of the door closing, and pushed herself up onto her feet. Running full tilt at Bubblegum, the little fire girl wrapped her arms around the princess' knees and looked up at her, gabbling baby sounds.

"Mam, mam, mam, mam, mam…" Bubblegum sighed inwardly as she crouched down in front of the little elemental, she'd been trying to correct this for weeks now.

"No Feuer, Princess Bubblegum. Bubblegum," she told her firmly. It wasn't that she objected to Flame Princess calling her mom, the candy people had called her Mother for centuries and the Gumball Guardians still did on occasion. But once the little elemental was older, it would lead to awkward questions once she worked out that Bubblegum couldn't possibly be her parent.

"Bubba… mam." Unfortunately for the princess, the fire girl already seemed to have made her mind up. "Bubbamam!"

_"Ugh, did you EVER brush this?" the fourteen year-old Bubblegum asked in exasperation, now trying to untangle the comb that had become hopelessly stuck in Marceline's hair."_

_"I kind of had other things to worry about," the grey-skinned girl grumbled as Bubblegum tugged at the comb. "Simon used to brush it for me sometimes, but that was years ago. Ow!" She tried to jerk away as the comb caught on another mat. "That hurts!"_

_"Well either I get all these knots out, or I shave your head," Bubblegum said firmly. "Because if you can't comb your hair, you'll get lice. I'm pretty sure those still exist."_

_"Yes Bubblemom," Marceline groaned sarcastically. "Actually that's a pretty good name for you. We should call you that instead of Bonnibel…"_

Blinking, the candy princess came back to the present and looked down at Flame Princess with a wistful smile. "Actually, on second thoughts I think I prefer 'mom' if you're going to insist on it."

"Mam," the little elemental agreed, then rubbed sticky hands all over Bubblegum's skirt.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** Adventure Time belongs to Pendleton Ward/Cartoon Network.

**A/N:** Thanks to Rinney and Anna for proof-reading. To answer some questions from reviews, yes this story or a sequel will go into the show's timeline, but it'll change canon events since Flame Princess is around right from the start. And also, just because PB is a mad scientist, that doesn't necessarily make her a bad parent.

* * *

Looking up from her notes, Bubblegum saw the sun starting to set outside the window of her lab. She had been working on the formula for her decorpsinator serum but it was still in its very early stages, barely more than strings of mathematical equations at this point. It would take years of research before she could even synthetize a prototype, but she got twitchy without something to work on in her downtime.

A large section of the lab had been fenced off and fireproofed for Flame Princess so that Bubblegum could keep an eye on her while she worked, and also because it was far more interesting for the little elemental than being stuck in her room or the test chamber. She was three now, extremely curious, rapidly learning to talk and gradually developing more and more control over her powers. She could be trusted to handle Science without burning her, and the candy rat seemed to have taken a liking to the little princess, often sitting on her lap or shoulder while she played.

"Okay Feuer, time for bed," Bubblegum said, walking over to the gate in the fence. It was there more to protect Flame Princess than keep her enclosed. There were a lot of things in the lab that would either be hazardous to her, or hazardous to others if she accidentally ignited them. She was still too young to be allowed to roam the castle unsupervised, but with an appropriate chaperone, usually either Bubblegum or Lady Rainicorn if the candy princess was busy with her duties, she had been permitted to explore the castle and gardens.

Flame Princess was currently shaping a lump of molten white sugar into a rough disc, using it more like modelling clay instead of paint now. She looked up at the sound of Bubblegum's voice, and showed the caramel shape to her, its edges marked with haphazard red stripes. "Making Pepbutt!" the little elemental announced proudly. She'd been trying to make the Morrow earlier, but had gotten frustrated with the way the wings she'd added had kept drooping so now it was just a brown blob.

"I can see that," Bubblegum replied with a smile. "But you can finish him tomorrow, if you let the sugar set overnight it'll be hard in the morning so it won't melt as easily."

"Okay, mommy." For an elemental with an intrinsically unstable nature, it often surprised Bubblegum that Flame Princess was generally well-behaved. She had the occasional destructive tantrum of course, which meant time out in the test chamber where she couldn't destroy anything, but that was generally a rare occurrence. Bubblegum often wondered if that was because she'd spent most of her life in the Candy Kingdom rather than the Fire Kingdom, she knew that the alignment of Fire Kingdom citizens was evil, but maybe that was more to do with nurture than their nature. If they all approached parenting like their king did, well, that certainly explained a lot.

Opening the gate, Bubblegum reached down to take Flame Princess's hand as the little girl got to her feet. She had rapidly outgrown her old clothes, and while Bubblegum had been slightly wary of dealing with the Fire Kingdom she'd found that the merchants were perfectly happy to trade goods, such as suitable clothing for a small girl, for coal. She hadn't wanted to make fire-resistant clothing for the little elemental because that would artificially contain her powers, Flame Princess needed to be aware of her combustion levels in order to control them properly. Instead, the little princess was wearing a dress of deep red firecloth belted with an orange sash which was totally unaffected by her heat levels. Flame Princess had wanted pink like Bubblegum, but firecloth only came in shades of red, orange and yellow.

"I think you might need a bath before bed," Bubblegum said with a chuckle. "I think you might be stuck to me now…" The little girl's hands were still covered with molten sugar that was starting to solidify now, and more was spattered across her dress.

"Yay!" Tugging her hand free, Flame Princess ran out of the lab, heading for the test chamber. Ever since Bubblegum had devised a method of effectively cleaning her, bathtime had been a favourite for her. Following the little elemental, Bubblegum pulled on protective clothing in the observation room, then picked up what appeared to be a silver fire extinguisher.

Going into the test chamber, where Flame Princess was already waiting, Bubblegum stopped a safe distance away from her and raised the nozzle of the silver canister. "Ready Feuer?"

"Yes!" the fire girl replied excitedly, standing with her arms spread out to either side. "Turn it on, turn it on!"

Closing her eyes tightly, Bubblegum held her breath and squeezed the handle of the canister, dousing Flame Princess with a blast of liquid oxygen and powdered magnesium. The little elemental lit up as bright as the sun as the oxygen reacted violently with her physiology, bathing her in intense white flame which immediately vapourised all traces of sugar from her hands and clothes. The blast of heat which came off her nearly knocked Bubblegum off her feet, but the reaction only lasted for moments before burning out.

Setting the canister down and making sure that the valve on the top was completely closed, Bubblegum turned towards Flame Princess… and stared in shock. The little elemental was completely clean, which she'd expected, but she was also hovering about four feet off the ground and laughing. That had never happened before. Then Bubblegum's eyes narrowed in suspicion, it couldn't be… but who else could be responsible?

"Marceline, are you insane? I know vampires aren't immune to fire, you could have been…" Her voice trailed off as she reached over Flame Princess to where Marceline's shoulders would have been if she was holding the little elemental, but nothing was there. Frowning, Bubblegum waved a hand behind the fire girl, then on either side, above and beneath her, but didn't encounter anything. "Feuer… how are you doing that?"

"Don't know," Flame Princess replied, still giggling as she bobbed slightly in the air. "Who's Marceline?"

"That's not important, she isn't here." Even though Bubblegum's voice was casual, or at least as casual as it could be when her adopted daughter was hovering in front of her for no apparent reason, she still felt something twist painfully within her now that she was sure that this had nothing to do with the vampire. She told herself that it had been a logical connection to make; it didn't mean that she missed her; it would be just like Marceline to prank her like that. Focusing her attention back on Flame Princess, Bubblegum reached out to take hold of her by the shoulders and pushed her downwards experimentally.

Bubblegum frowned as she felt some kind of invisible resistance, as if Flame Princess was standing on thick rubber instead of thin air. Crouching, she looked more closely at the space between the fire girl's feet and the floor. At first she thought she'd imagined it, but there was definitely a heat haze there. Taking off one of her protective gloves, she cautiously moved one hand forwards into it, then snatched it back as superheated air scorched her fingers. "Feuer, don't move," she ordered, then ran back into her lab to retrieve a flashlight.

To Bubblegum's relief, Flame Princess was still in exactly the same position when she returned, but was no longer laughing, now starting to look a little worried. "I want down!" she wailed, flailing her arms as if she was trying to do the opposite of flying.

"Shhhhh sweetie, it's okay, there's got to be an explanation for this," Bubblegum said comfortingly, shining the flashlight at the space between Flame Princess and the floor. "Just let me figure it out." She could now see the shadows of the heat currents on the wall behind the little elemental as the light from the torch was refracted by the heated air, and they were moving in an inverted cone pointed towards the floor. It seemed that Flame Princess' combustions levels had reached a point where she could generate her own jet propulsion.

"Feuer, do you think you can cool down?" Bubblegum asked, trying not to sound as doubtful as she felt. The little elemental was clearly getting upset, which would only make her burn hotter. "It's your heat that's keeping you up there sweetie, if you cool down you should land."

"Don't wanna fall!" Flame Princess replied, sounding afraid now. "Want down!"

"It's okay, I've got you." Taking hold of the little elemental beneath her arms firmly, Bubblegum gave her a reassuring smile. "You're not going to fall. You trust me, right?"

Flame Princess nodded, then seemed to concentrate. Suddenly, as if a switch had been flicked, she became a heavy weight in Bubblegum's arms, but the candy princess managed to lower her gently to the ground instead of dropping her. "There you go," she said comfortingly as she set her down. "Better now?"

The little elemental nodded, rubbing her eyes. "Tired," she grumbled. "Don't like floating."

"Well, let's get you to bed then." Picking Flame Princess up, guessing that generating that much heat must have exhausted her, Bubblegum carried her to her room. It looked like she might need Lady Rainicorn's help again, since flying lessons were definitely beyond her own experience...


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** Adventure Time belongs to Pendleton Ward/Cartoon Network.

**A/N:** Thanks to Rinney and Anna for proof-reading. Also, in regard to the 'don't make this a pb x marceline fic' review, too late. Before I even started this fic I knew the pairings would be Finn/Flame Princess and Princess Bubblegum/Marceline. (and Lady Rainicorn/Jake, but that goes without saying) It's not a major part of the story, which is more about Flame Princess, but it's gonna happen. If it bothers you that much, stop reading as soon as Marceline shows up.

* * *

"Okay Feuer, are you ready?" Bubblegum asked, standing a short distance away from Flame Princess in the castle gardens. Lady Rainicorn was circling in the air above them, keeping a close eye on the little elemental.

Flame Princess looked doubtful, but seemed to be comforted by Lady's presence in addition to Bubblegum, she'd ridden on the rainicorn's back with the candy princess several times. "Don't wanna fall," she said worriedly. "Catch me?"

"Of course sweetheart," Bubblegum told her reassuringly. "Either me or Lady will catch you, I promise." She wasn't entirely sure that getting Flame Princess to practice her newfound flying skills was a good idea, but if she couldn't control them then the fire girl would be in more danger than anyone else.

Screwing her eyes shut, Flame Princess pointed both arms towards the ground. For a few seconds nothing happened, then she began to rise jerkily into the air. Cautiously cracking one eye open, she saw that she was barely a foot off the ground, and relaxed. This wasn't nearly as scary as she'd thought.

"That's very good, Feuer," Bubblegum's voice was warm and praising. "Can you come back down?" It would definitely be for the best if she encouraged the little elemental to stay low for now.

Flame Princess didn't reply, concentrating on her heat levels. She was still only a toddler, but she did understand that she could change her temperature; she'd learned that from playing with the toys Bubblegum had given her. Not enough heat didn't melt sugar, too much made it black and crispy and no good for painting or modelling.

Gradually sinking back down to the paved square, Flame Princess giggled, less nervous now that she knew she could get down. She rose again, faster this time, but stopped herself once she was shoulder-level with Bubblegum. "Flying!"

"Yes, yes you are," Bubblegum said with a smile. "Now… can you make yourself move towards me?"

There was a pause as Flame Princess frowned. "Don't know." She concentrated for a moment, then shot about twenty feet higher into the air with a squeal of shock. Lady Rainicorn launched herself after the little elemental, grabbing the back of her dress between her teeth as Flame Princess started to drop. Not realising that Lady had caught her and thinking that she was falling, the fire girl panicked and immediately launched herself even higher.

Watching from below, Bubblegum felt her insides clench with fear, it had been a terrible idea to do this outside, inside the worst that could have happened was that Flame Princess would hit the ceiling. Even though Lady Rainicorn was with the little elemental, what if she lost her grip? What if Flame Princess fell?

_…tumbling through empty space with a cry of fear to disappear into the toxic green sludge below with a sickening hiss as chemicals met flesh…_

Shaking the memory away violently, Bubblegum reminded herself that the toxic river was no longer a danger… though water could be just as deadly to Flame Princess as the sludge had been to Shoko. However, Lady Rainicorn was still holding tight to the fire girl as she hurtled upwards, trailing Lady's long, multi-coloured body behind her as easily as a gauze scarf. Lady's weight didn't seem to be slowing her at all.

There was a good reason for this; Lady was purposely using the sunlight's energy to support herself in the air. As far as Flame Princess was aware, she weighed nothing at all. Unlike the princess below, the rainicorn wasn't worried in the slightest, first flights were always haphazard and at least Flame Princess couldn't accidentally phase herself halfway through a tree then get stuck.

With a quick, whiplike motion Lady flicked herself upwards, releasing the little elemental's dress and taking a firm hold of her with her forelegs. _[Slow down,]_ she said firmly. She had always spoken her own language around Flame Princess, who had picked it up just as quickly as English. _[Don't be scared.]_

Flame Princess had been too frightened to even realise the rainicorn was with her, but started to calm as she heard her voice, her speed slowing as she cooled. Then she looked down. The little elemental was at least two hundred feet up now; she could see the gardens spread out below her like a brightly-patterned tablecloth. If Lady Rainicorn hadn't been holding her she would have most likely have shot upwards again in terror, but she had been this high with her before, only last time she'd been riding on her back. "Don't let go!"

Shifting around Flame Princess to hover in front of her, but still keeping hold of her, Lady laughed gently. _[You're keeping me up all by yourself. You're not going to fall.]_

"You promise?" The little elemental looked unsure, but she trusted the rainicorn just as much as she trusted Princess Bubblegum.

_[I promise,]_ Lady replied. Then, very slowly, she let Flame Princess go. The little elemental continued to hover in the air unsupported and laughed nervously_. [See? You got up here all by yourself. Look, you can see all of the Candy Kingdom from here.]_ The rainicorn kept talking to the fire girl as she slowly began to descend, her combustion levels dropping as she realised she wasn't in danger. _[There's the Gumball Guardians, there's the Cotton Candy Forest. You can even see the Grass Lands from here, look.]_

Looking in the direction Lady was pointing, Flame Princess saw rolling green hills and the silhouette of a gigantic tree against the sky. "Big tree." It slowly disappeared behind the walls of the Candy Kingdom as the little elemental sank back to earth, feeling tired and hungry now. She landed a few moments later, falling to the ground with a bump, but was immediately snatched up by Bubblegum, who hugged her tightly.

"Oh thank Grod you're all right!" The candy princess' relieved laughter was slightly hysterical. "I've had some really bad ideas in my time, but I think this one wins the prize, you could have been killed!"

Flame Princess looked up at her with some bemusement, not understanding why her mother was so upset. "I saw the Grass Lands," she announced proudly. "I was really high!"

_[And she was never in danger,]_ Lady Rainicorn added as she landed gracefully beside them. _[I was with her the whole time, you worry too much.]_

"But what if she'd gotten away from you?" Bubblegum demanded. "I never realised she was so fast, her flight doesn't work on the same principles as yours, it's obviously based on Newton's laws of motion, not physical constants..."

_[And does that mean she's faster than light?]_ Lady's question was rhetorical, she was perfectly aware of how her own flying ability worked and so was the princess, Bubblegum was just too panicked to realise that.

"Oh. Right," the candy princess said awkwardly. "Of course, I was forgetting. Sorry, Lady."

_[Not a problem,]_ the rainicorn replied. _[But I wouldn't let her practice outside unless I'm here, I don't think Morrow could keep up.]_

"I won't, don't worry about that." Looking down at Flame Princess, Bubblegum saw that the fire girl was drowsing in her arms, her head leaning on Bubblegum's shoulder. "I think it takes a lot out of her as well, it must use a lot of energy."

_[Same time tomorrow then?]_ Lady queried. _[The more she practices, the quicker she'll get the hang of it. Flying is just like walking, once she learns she'll never forget. It just starts out a bit clumsy and awkward.]_

The two of them turned and headed back towards the castle, Bubblegum still carrying Flame Princess. "How old were you when you learned to fly?" Bubblegum asked curiously.

_[About two and a half hours,]_ Lady replied. _[But it's different for rainicorns...]_


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** Adventure Time belongs to Pendleton Ward/Cartoon Network.

**A/N:** Thanks to Rinney and Anna for proof-reading. Again, while there will be PB x Marceline in this fic, it's not a big part of it, I'm not going to suddenly focus on them once Marceline shows up, this fic isn't about their relationship. (besides, that's what 'As The World Falls Down' is for...) The focus will be more on Flame Princess as she gets older, then on the episodes of the show and how they differ in this AU. Also, for StrikerXE I wouldn't feel too down about rainicorn/pupcorn/dog aging, rainicorns mature really quickly but that doesn't necessarily mean they have a short lifespan. And Jake is a magic dog, so same goes for him.

* * *

Reaching into the canister of candy biomass, Bubblegum scooped out another double handful of the gelatinous pink substance and set it on the worktop beside the other four, looking at them critically. She'd been keeping it around for emergencies since she'd had no real use for it in centuries; it was all that remained of her original form. The last time she'd used it on herself had been about eight hundred years ago now, but that wouldn't be a problem. Kept in this state, the biomass never aged or deteriorated.

"Are you sure you want to do this Peebs?" Peppermint Butler asked, holding the canister up as the princess collected another portion of biomass from it. "You've been eighteen for... a really long time now. Why change that?"

"Because it's not seemly for a teenager to have a child," Bubblegum replied, taking a step back to consider the six lumps of biomass before her. Each would age her by a year if her calculations were correct. "Flame Princess is going to be four soon, so I need to do this now before people start asking awkward questions."

Peppermint Butler privately thought that the awkward questions would probably be about Flame Princess' parentage rather than Bubblegum's age, but he kept that to himself. "Princess, you do recall what I said when you first brought her back here, don't you? About getting attached? And you said it was just for science? How's your position on that these days?"

There was a long pause, then Bubblegum looked down at the mint man with a sigh. "Fine. So I'm attached. She's as much my daughter as any candy citizen. Happy?"

"Then I was right?" Peppermint asked eagerly, his eyes lighting up.

The candy princess sighed again, rolling her eyes. "Yes Pepbutt, you were right. Is that what you want to hear?"

_"Ugh, fine, you were right Peppermint," Death grumbled as he looked glumly at his overturned king on the chessboard. "Taking your bishop was a bad move."_

_"You were right, Pepper," Hunson Abadeer said as he watched the golf ball soar out of the fire trap. "The nine iron was better for that shot than the sand wedge."_

_"You were right, man..." Prismo leaned back in the hot tub as the water bubbled gently. At least it looked like he was leaning; it was hard to tell since he was two-dimensional. "I totally needed one of these."_

"P-Butt? Peppermint? Hello?!" The mint man snapped out of his nostalgic reverie as he realised Bubblegum was talking to him.

"Oh, apologies milady," he said, adjusting his grip on the canister that had slowly been tipping backwards over his shoulder and tilting it towards the princess. She took one last handful of the biomass, put it next to the rest, then nodded to herself.

"That should do it," she said in satisfaction. "You can put that down now Pepbutt."

Gratefully setting the canister down, Peppermint snapped the lid back into place and sealed it, pushing it under the workbench to keep it out of harm's way. He watched with interest as Bubblegum coated the underside of each quivering lump of biomass with liquid glucose, then pressed it into her hair until she had a series of odd-looking bumps encircling her head like a corona. He thought it looked ridiculous. "So, uh, what now Peebs?" he asked curiously. "I mean, I like you and all but that's not going to be enough to catalyse the reaction and Marceline isn't here so..." His voice trailed off as the princess glared at him.

"I know what I'm doing, Peppermint," Bubblegum stated through gritted teeth. "And Marceline only helped with this once, I had to age myself plenty of times before that."

"Ohhhhhh," the mint man said, understanding. "I thought it needed love like... well, you know."

"It doesn't." Bubblegum replied shortly. "Or I'd have been stuck at thirteen for a really, really long time..."

o.o.o.o.o

Outside in the gardens, Flame Princess was playing at aerial tag with Lady Rainicorn, a game that the rainicorn had taught her to improve her flying. After several weeks of learning and encouragement the little elemental had quickly learned to use her new ability, once she had grasped that she needed to direct heat in the opposite direction from where she wanted to go. Landing was still a little awkward, and several scorched furrows in the grass marked particularly bad ones, but it was gradually improving.

_[Too slow, little princess!] _Looping around the giggling fire girl, Lady shot upwards with the little elemental close behind. Flame Princess could move extremely fast in the air, though only for short bursts, and as the rainicorn gracefully arced to one side she shot beneath her and tapped her nose.

"Tag!" Flame Princess crowed as she launched herself straight up into the air. Despite her initial wariness, she had decided that flying was a lot of fun, even if her mother couldn't join in. As Lady Rainicorn came after her, the little elemental quickly changed direction and darted off diagonally towards the ground, then turned sharply to the right, laughing the entire time.

Unlike Flame Princess, Lady's speed was only limited by the amount of sunlight available to her, she could easily have caught the fire girl but instead let her get further away. It wouldn't be any fun for either of them if she kept catching her in a couple of seconds after all. The rainicorn didn't want the little elemental to exhaust herself either, the faster she travelled the sooner she seemed to run out of energy. As she looped lazily after Flame Princess, Lady heard Bubblegum's voice below them, and looked down to see her stepping out onto the lawn with Peppermint Butler behind her. It looked like she'd done something strange with her hair.

"Mommy!" Descending to the ground, Flame Princess managed to land on her feet for once, and ran towards Bubblegum with her arms outstretched, just as she'd done the day the candy princess had first found her in the woods.

Dropping down to one knee, Bubblegum caught the little elemental in both arms and hugged her tightly. If she'd had any lingering doubts about whether she genuinely did love her like a daughter, they would have vanished as she felt her entire body tingle and shudder. The reaction could only take place if the love was mutual.

Bubblegum had never aged herself by more than a year at a time, so seven was quite a jump. It felt like she was being stretched, painfully, her molecular structure warping momentarily as the candy biomass was absorbed into her body. Then it was over, and she slowly got back to her feet, carrying Flame Princess with her.

"Huh," she said in mild surprise as she looked down at herself. "Didn't realise I'd get taller…"

o.o.o.o.o

"Flying?" Flame King demanded, smashing a fist down on the arm of his throne. "That's ridiculous, that little ember couldn't possibly have that kind of power."

The messenger, the same one whom the elemental king had ordered to take his daughter to the surface and abandon her there, didn't look up from where he was kneeling. "Uhhhh… well… she was certainly in the air sire. Maybe she was falling. Upwards."

Flame King scowled at the servant, but chose not to answer that. "I should have had her dropped in Iceberg Lake instead," he muttered. "But at least if she's being raised by the gum princess she won't grow up to be a threat. Though she's still quite small, so it would still be easy to throw her in the lake… hmmmm…"

The messenger shuddered at the thought. "But… what if the gum princess won't give her back now?" he asked hesitantly.

"Then I'll just take her," Flame King replied casually. "She's mine after all. Then again…" He rubbed his chin as he reconsidered. "…that sounds a lot like effort. And she could still accidentally torch the entire gum kingdom, which would still make it mine. Eh, forget the whole thing." He sighed, leaning back in his throne. "Being a parent is hard."

"Oh, uhm, that reminds me…" the messenger began nervously. "Your son is here and…"

"Has he conquered the Nightosphere yet?" Flame King demanded.

"No, but…" The servant fell silent as Flame King made a sharp, dismissive gesture.

"Then send him away! Always knew that boy was a loser…"


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** Adventure Time belongs to Pendleton Ward/Cartoon Network. Thanks to Rinney and Anna for proof-reading.

**A/N:** Is now at the end to avoid unintentional spoilers.

* * *

"And you're SURE that you can handle this Peppermint?" Princess Bubblegum glared sternly at the mint man, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Because I can always just give the other royals my apologies or send a representative. This is only a preparatory meeting; the actual Grand Meeting of Ooo Royalty isn't for another six years."

"Oh it'll be fine Peebs," Peppermint Butler replied dismissively. "Flame Princess is way easier to handle now anyway." Which was true, the little elemental was six years old now and her control over her powers had improved immensely as she'd gotten older. Over the last year she had only set things on fire when she'd intended to, and none of those things had been sentient.

"That doesn't mean you can just ignore her." The princess didn't appear to be convinced of Peppermint's capabilities, obviously remembering the last time she'd left Flame Princess in his care. "You still need to keep an eye on her and make sure she does her training exercises. And don't let her stay up late either. Or go flying outside the castle grounds."

"Milady, I have no intention of ignoring her!" Peppermint tried to sound wounded by the accusation, but Bubblegum's sceptical look told him she hadn't fallen for it in the slightest. "Look, I know what happened last time I watched her, believe me, I remember. But that was what, nearly six years ago now? She won't end up stuck to a wall this time, I promise."

The candy princess glared at him for a few more moments, then sighed. "She'd better not. Ugh, why did Lady have to be visiting her parents in the Crystal Dimension this week instead of next…" Despite Peppermint's reassurances she was still extremely sceptical about letting him babysit, even if it was only for half a day. She'd be back at the palace by nightfall, and if she hadn't had concerns about whether Flame King would appear at this meeting she would just have missed it. He didn't usually attend these gatherings and most times didn't even bother to send a representative, but there was a first time for everything. Bubblegum had even considered taking Flame Princess with her, but if her father did turn up then she didn't think that would end well.

Princess Bubblegum hadn't heard from the elemental king at all for the past six years. He must have known that his daughter was still with her in the Candy Kingdom, but didn't seem to have any interest in checking up on her, or speaking to her, or anything. Most of the time she was glad that he hadn't done anything to interfere, or made any attempt to take Flame Princess back. But there were times when his apparent indifference made her furious; the little elemental was a bright, affectionate child who had done nothing to deserve his callous treatment.

Sometimes the candy princess wondered what he'd have done with his daughter if she hadn't taken her away… would Flame Princess eventually have charmed her father like she had charmed her? Or would he not have cared and locked her up somewhere instead or just had her abandoned on the surface again? Bubblegum was reasonably sure that the latter was more likely, which only made her angrier. So if Flame King did turn up at this meeting with any intention of taking his daughter back, she was ready to fight him tooth and nail if necessary. But that did mean she had to be there in person.

"Okay Peppermint, I'm really not too sure about this, but I do have to go to this meeting," the princess said eventually with a frustrated growl. "But I want you to promise - ROYAL promise - that you are going to take good care of Flame Princess while I'm gone. Okay?"

"A Royal promise?" The mint man did his best not to look anxious at the prospect, laughing nervously. "Oh come on Peebs, isn't that a bit extreme?" The look he got from the candy princess was a clear answer to that question. "Oh, all right," he grumbled. "I royally swear to look after Flame Princess while you're gone."

"And not just hand her over to Cinnamon Bun?" Bubblegum asked pointedly.

"And not just hand her over to Cinnamon Bun," he repeated mechanically. "Though she does seem to like him for some reason."

"I know she does," the princess replied. "He makes her laugh. But Cinnamon Bun is definitely not responsible enough to watch her without being supervised himself, understood?"

"Yes milady," Peppermint sighed. "Everything will be fine. Do you want me to get a carriage ready for you?"

"No, I'm going to take the Morrow; the carriage is too slow to get me back by tonight." The princess was now gathering up the items she'd need for the meeting, her notebook and pens, a draft copy of the nonaggression pact she'd written out for Bear Princess and Tree Princess and her notes from the last pre-meeting. "I'll just go and say goodbye to Feuer," she told Peppermint as she slung a satchel over her shoulder. "Remember, I'm trusting you with my daughter. Don't let me down."

"Of course not Peebs," Peppermint replied reassuringly. "Nothing will go wrong."

Half an hour later, the Morrow was perched on the balcony outside Bubblegum's bedroom, preening his flight feathers in preparation for the journey. The candy princess was crouched by the railings, giving Flame Princess a goodbye hug. The little elemental hadn't been entirely happy about her mother leaving without her, but Bubblegum had promised she would be back by the next morning.

"Can't I fly with you for a while?" Flame Princess asked, clinging tightly to the candy princess. "Just to the gates?"

"No Feuer," Bubblegum told her gently. "No flying outside the castle grounds without Lady Rainicorn, you know that. You need to stay here with Pepbutt, okay?"

"Okay," the little elemental said in resignation, slowly letting go of the candy princess and stepping back to stand beside Peppermint Butler. She watched as Princess Bubblegum vaulted onto the railing then climbed onto the Morrow's back, and waved to her mother enthusiastically.

Settling down between the giant hawk's wings, Bubblegum waved back. "I'll see you in the morning Feuer. Be a good girl, okay?"

"Yes mommy," Flame Princess responded. "Have a nice boring adult meeting!" Clearly she'd taken the description of where the candy princess was going quite literally.

Laughing, Bubblegum gave the Morrow's neck plumage a gentle pull. "Okay Morrow, let's go." With an affirmative screech, the bird launched itself into the sky like an arrow and circled the palace once, then headed south towards the Bad Lands. Flame Princess continued to wave until the hawk was a speck on the horizon, then followed Peppermint Butler inside.

o.o.o.o.o

Far from the Candy Kingdom, someone else was watching Princess Bubblegum depart, standing on the ramparts of a dark grey castle perched on a mountaintop. Looking through a telescope, they followed the Morrow's flight for a few seconds to make sure it wasn't going to return, then shifted to the Candy Castle itself, focusing on the two figures standing on the balcony. The servile mint was beneath his notice, but beside him was the usurper.

"Unacceptable," Lemongrab snarled to himself, glaring hate at the wretched little elemental through the telescope's lens. "UNACCEPTABLE!"

Hurling the viewing instrument from the battlements as if it had offended him, which it had by showing him the intruder in the palace that was his by right, Lemongrab stormed off to fetch his camel. Mother Princess wouldn't be back until nightfall, attending the meeting to which he, the Earl of Lemongrab, more royal than the rest of them put together, had not been invited. That gave him ample time to resolve this most unacceptable situation in the kingdom that he, and only he, was due to inherit. And Lemongrab wasn't about to let some unwanted brat from the Fire Kingdom get in his way.

* * *

**Actual A/N:** Well, you didn't think Lemongrab was going to tolerate a potential rival for the throne, did you? He's just been waiting for Bubblegum to be out of the picture...


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** Adventure Time belongs to Pendleton Ward/Cartoon Network. Thanks to Rinney and Anna for proof-reading.

* * *

The caramel shapes on the tile were easily recognisable now; Flame Princess's artistic skills had developed and improved in direct proportion to her control of her combustion levels. She no longer needed the heated palette to melt sugar for her; instead she had a range of jars containing dyed sugar crystals in every colour of the rainbow. The tile that the little elemental used as a canvas was the same, but the long-handled spoon for picking up molten sugar had been replaced by a variety of special tools that Princess Bubblegum had designed for her.

Picking up some red and yellow sugar in a shallow ladle, Flame Princess concentrated, channelling heat through the metal until the sugar crystals melted. Mixing the colours into a deep orange with a copper stylus, she carefully gathered some of the molten sugar in the groove that had been stamped into the stylus and started to add it to her painting of the Candy Castle.

Blocking in the main trunk of the tree that grew at the centre of the castle, Flame Princess gathered more liquid caramel on the stylus and started to add the branches, eyes narrowed in concentration. Keeping the molten sugar at the right temperature was easy, but dripping it onto the tile without distorting it was harder. Getting it off if she made a mistake was difficult.

Once she was happy with the tree, she dipped the ladle and stylus into the water pot which her mother had weighted to make sure it wouldn't tip over easily. As Flame Princess channelled more heat through the metal, the water began to bubble violently but the lip around the rim of the pot stopped it from splashing her as the tools were boiled clean. When she removed them from the water they rapidly steamed and dried, ready for the next colour.

Flame Princess was using a metal skewer to emboss some detail into the caramel tree shape while it was still soft when Peppermint Butler entered the room carrying a tray. "It'll be time for bed soon, Princess," he told her. "Your mother said I wasn't to let you stay up too late." He set the tray down beside her; on it were some chunks of charcoal, a small branch of ash wood and a couple of cookies. Flame Princess could consume the same food as candy people but although she liked it she didn't get much sustenance or energy from it. Charcoal and firewood were much better for her, even if she did think it was weird that nobody else seemed to eat those.

"Thanks Pepbutt," Flame Princess said gratefully, picking up a piece of charcoal which immediately started to glow a dull red as it burned away between her hands. Although painting didn't make her as hungry as flying did, it was still required a lot of energy as it required careful use and control of her combustion levels. "Mommy won't be back until after I'm asleep, will she?" the fire girl asked, dusting the ash from her hands before taking another chunk of charcoal.

"I'm afraid not milady," Peppermint replied, glancing at the picture she'd been making. As well as the Candy Castle itself there were small figures standing on balconies and at the door, he could make out Princess Bubblegum, Cinnamon Roll, Lady Rainicorn flying around one of the towers and a red and white shape that was obviously himself. Despite himself, the mint man had found that he had also grown fond of the little elemental, though admittedly that was much easier now that there wasn't so much chance of her inadvertently setting fire to him. "It's a long way back from the Bad Lands."

Peppermint Butler was also slightly concerned that Flame King might actually have turned up to this meeting, since Peebles wasn't always the best at keeping her temper. He was relatively sure that she'd have stopped short of declaring war if Flame King provoked her, but there would no doubt be some diplomatic tensions with the Fire Kingdom at the very least. But Flame Princess didn't need to know any of that, especially since the little elemental had no idea that Princess Bubblegum wasn't her real mother, so he kept those worries to himself.

Flame Princess had wandered over to the window and was looking out over the landscape below. "Are the Bad Lands this way?" she asked, shading her eyes from the setting sun as she peered into the distance.

"No Princess, they're to the south, that window faces west," Peppermint told her, walking over to the tower's south-facing window and opening it. "The Bad Lands are too far away to see from here, but they're this way…" He paused as he realised the little elemental wasn't listening, gazing out the other window at something he couldn't see.

"Who's that?" Flame Princess pointed downwards as Peppermint Butler came to stand beside her. Looking in that direction, the mint man's eyes widened as he saw the small figure that was rapidly growing larger as it grew closer. Even at this height, the silhouette was unmistakeable.

"What in Gob's name is he doing here?!" Peppermint yelped, getting a look of confusion from the fire girl.

"Who is he?" The little elemental sounded uncertain now, starting to get scared simply because she could see that Peppermint was afraid of whoever this person was.

"Oh, that's not important!" the mint man told her with false cheeriness. "It must just be… a juice delivery or something. Yes, lemon juice delivery. I'd better go take care of it!" Peppermint moved quickly to the door and opened it, then hesitated. "But you need to stay here milady, okay? Stay here, and don't come downstairs."

"Uhm… okay…" Flame Princess looked bewildered by the sudden urgency of the command, but Peppermint couldn't wait around to make sure she stayed put. From the speed Lemongrab had been riding at, he would be here in minutes and would most likely fly off the handle as soon as he discovered that Princess Bubblegum wasn't here, he was sure to take that as a personal insult.

Then again, Peppermint reconsidered as he rapidly descended the spiral staircase to the castle's main hall, maybe arriving while the candy princess was absent had been Lemongrab's intent all along.

o.o.o.o.o

"Announcing the arrival of the Earl of..." Manfried didn't get a chance to finish before he was interrupted by a shriek

"SILENCE!" The sheer force of Lemongrab's scream sent the piñata spinning dizzily on his wire. Dismounting his camel, the Earl strode forwards towards the main stair as the other candy people present scattered in fear but before he could set foot on it his path was blocked by Peppermint Butler.

"Good evening your Grace," Peppermint said with a polite bow and a nervous smile. "May I ask what brings you to the Candy Castle?"

"No," Lemongrab spat in response, then barged past him and started to climb the stairs.

"Sir, I must insist!" the mint man called, chasing after him with some difficulty given his much shorter legs. "If you wish to see Princess Bubblegum I'm afraid she is not here at present, but if you would care to wait here..."

"NO!" This time Lemongrab yelled the word, his head twisting around to glare balefully down at Peppermint Butler. "This will be my castle, MINE, and I do not justify myself to slaves!"

"Okay man, but right now it belongs to Princess Bubblegum and she left me in charge," Peppermint retaliated. Lemongrab seemed blissfully unaware of the candy princess' immortality but the mint man thought it would be best not to mention that little detail. "Now tell me what you want or I'll have the Banana Guards throw you out!" He said the last part with far more bravado than he actually felt, since he could see that Lemongrab had his sound sword belted at his waist, and knew that he had no qualms whatsoever about using it on others.

Halfway up the stairs, Lemongrab stopped dead in his tracks and turned abruptly to face the butler with a snarl. "I am royal!" he seethed, stalking down towards the servant menacingly. "ROYAL! You do not question me! NO QUESTIOOOOONS!" The last word turned into a drawn out scream directly into Peppermint's face, and the mint man started backing away.

"No questions, okay, I got it!" Holding up his hands placatingly, Peppermint continued to retreat until his back hit the far wall. "But Princess Bubblegum is still in charge here and she..."

"Is a TRAITOR!" Lemongrab finished for him in a high-pitched squeal. "A traitor! She replaces me, ME, with a non-candy aberration and I will not stand for it! WILL NOT STAAAAND!"

"An aberra... Oh, you mean Flame Princess?" Peppermint asked helpfully, wondering how Lemongrab had only found out about her now.

"AN ABERRATION!" Lemongrab shrieked, furious at the reminder that the little elemental technically outranked him as she was still a princess. "A USURPER! Mother Princess coddles it, but does she coddle ME? Coddle Lemongrab? NO!" The earl's face was the very picture of insulted outrage, which struck Peppermint as more than a little odd.

"Uhh, dude, the last time she tried to visit you, you wouldn't let her in and threw half the kitchen at her..." the mint man pointed out, then flinched as Lemongrab's expression darkened even further.

"LIES!" he shouted furiously. "All lies to discredit poor Lemongrab! Always lies!"

Now it was Peppermint's turn to glare since he knew exactly what had happened on that disastrous visit, for one very good reason. "I was there, man!" he snapped. "You hit me with a blender!"

_"…don't care if you're the Lord of Evil, you still gotta ante up…" Peppermint Butler mumbled groggily as Princess Bubblegum shook him. He opened his eyes to see the candy princess crouched over him with her back to Castle Lemongrab, shielding him from any further missiles. "Did I just get hit with a blender?" he asked, groaning as his head throbbed._

_"You did, yes," Bubblegum replied, her eyes darting across to where the appliance had landed after ricocheting off the mint man. "I'm sorry Peppermint; I should have come here by myself." Her expression was a mixture of sadness and guilt. "Maybe he wouldn't have reacted so badly if it had just been me."_

_Personally, Peppermint doubted that, but chose not to comment on it as he stumbled back to his feet. "What now, milady? Has he calmed down at all?"_

_"I think he might have run out of things to throw." Looking back towards the ramparts of the castle, Bubblegum could see that Lemongrab had vanished from sight. "Or he's stopped throwing them. Either way, you need to get back to the Candy Kingdom; I'll go in and talk to him."_

_"Peebs, that's crazy!" Peppermint's words came out as a shrill, anxious squawk. "You can't go in there yourself; you don't know what he'll do!"_

_"I don't think he'll hurt me Pepbutt," Bubblegum reassured him. "If he's stopped throwing things then that's a good…" The two of them were sprayed with earth as a microwave tore a furrow into the ground beside them with a crash and shriek of metal, followed by the sounds of incomprehensible screaming from the battlements. "Well, I still don't think he'll hurt me," the princess continued with a sigh. "You get out of here; I'll be back after- augh!"_

_With a dull, meaty 'thuk', a carving fork had plunged into Bubblegum's left shoulder, thrown with full intent and raging hatred. Peppermint Butler stared wide-eyed at the two metal prongs jutting from her sleeve, it had gone right through._

_"I stand corrected," Bubblegum said through gritted teeth. "Time to run." Without further ado, she picked up Peppermint with her good arm and started sprinting down the mountain path as more cutlery rained down around them._

Lemongrab scowled at the infuriating little mint man, vaguely remembering him now. "Well I did not wish a visit at that time!" he said sharply. Not defensively, since in his mind he had done nothing wrong, simply as if he was stating an indisputable fact. "Mother Princess abandoned me!"

Peppermint Butler was about to tell Lemongrab exactly what he thought 'Mother Princess' should do to him, which was very similar to what Ms Abadeer had wanted to do with him, but before he could he heard something that made his heart sink into his boots.

"What's all the yelling?" Flame Princess' curiosity had gotten the better of her and she had decided to investigate the strange sounds coming from the main hall despite Peppermint's instructions. Neither Lemongrab nor Peppermint had heard her on the stairs, mainly because she had levitated down over them rather than descended them. Lemongrab immediately whipped round to face her and scowled darkly.

"So. The cuckoo in the nest. MY NEST, LITTLE CUCKOO!" As Lemongrab stalked towards Flame Princess with unnerving purpose the little elemental drew back slightly, intimidated by his height and venomous expression. "You have no place here fire brat, this is mine. MIIIIIIIINE!"

To Peppermint Butler's never-ending disappointment, Flame Princess didn't immediately explode into flames as the earl shrieked at her. Princess Bubblegum had taught her too well for that; she knew she wasn't to react with fire when she was frightened. Instead she shrank further back from Lemongrab with wide, bewildered eyes. Nobody had ever spoken to her like that in her entire life and she didn't know how to respond.

"But I live here," she said eventually in a small voice, not understanding why the stranger was so angry. "It's my mommy's castle and…" Whatever else Flame Princess might have said was immediately drowned out by Lemongrab's outraged shriek.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!" The earl's face twisted in rage and disgust at the very thought that Mother Princess could have spawned a filthy, common little elemental. It was obviously an insult directed at him and a threat to his inheritance. "You lie, fire brat! SHE'S NOT YOUR…" It was Lemongrab's turn to be interrupted for once, as Peppermint Butler hit him as hard as he could with a broom that a terrified servant had dropped earlier.

"Hey! Back off, man!" Peppermint ordered, continuing to swing the broom at Lemongrab. "She's just a kid!" The first warning sign that this perhaps hadn't been the mint man's best course of action was Lemongrab's ominously prolonged intake of breath followed by a metallic slither as the earl drew his sound sword. The weapon blazed into life as Lemongrab screeched in rage, and a single lash of its sonic blade reduced the broom to splinters.

"UNACCEPTABLE! You dare to strike me? YOU DAAAAAAARE?!" Snatching hold of Peppermint's shirt collar, Lemongrab hauled him up to his eye-level, shark teeth bared and snarling. The mint man had seen an awful lot of donked up things in his time, the Nightosphere, the Dead Worlds, ghosts, demons. He'd played chess with Death and won, played golf with Lord Abadeer and lost, repeatedly, but he had never been quite as intimidated as he was right at this moment. "YOU! PUNISHMENT! DUNGEON! RECONDITIONING!"

"YOU PUT HIM DOWN!" Flame Princess' shout was almost as loud as Lemongrab's, and actually managed to get the earl's attention. Twisting his head a full one hundred and eighty degrees without any apparent discomfort, he bared jagged teeth at her.

"Make me!" Lemongrab hissed, low and malignant, then his voice rose to a maddened howl once more. "MAKE ME, FIRE BRAT!"

Flame Princess glared at him defiantly, knowing that what she was about to do was wrong, but so was terrorising poor Peppermint like that. Making her mind up, she screwed up her face in concentration and screamed at him.

To his vast surprise, Lemongrab suddenly found that he was on fire.

* * *

**A/N:** Long chapter is long. Originally it was going to be even longer, but I decided to finish it here. I used to think Lemongrab was hilarious, but as of the last few episodes he's been in I don't find him funny any more, he's actually pretty psychotic. But now he is on fire. And I laughed.

To answer a question from the reviews, which I seriously do appreciate and thank you all for your feedback, Finn is currently six years old as well and being raised by Joshua and Margaret The Dogs. He won't be turning up for a while yet.

I do have scenes from much later on written out already, so if folk really want to see Flame Princess and Finn interacting I don't mind posting bits on my Tumblr for you. (link in my profile) No spoilers, just awkward, awkward early teen romance.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:** Adventure Time belongs to Pendleton Ward/Cartoon Network. Thanks to Rinney and Anna for proof-reading.

* * *

It was fully dark by the time the Morrow landed on the balcony adjoining the royal bedroom, and Princess Bubblegum yawned deeply as she dismounted. "Thanks Morrow," she said gratefully, stroking the bird's neck feathers. "You better go get some rest, you must be exhausted." The giant hawk launched itself from the railing with a squawk, circling upwards towards its roost on the castle's highest spire as Bubblegum went inside.

Setting her satchel down on the desk, Bubblegum took out her notes, and the somewhat tattered nonaggression pact which now needed amendments. As usual, Bear Princess and Tree Princess had been unable to come to an agreement, though it had now been impressed on the ursine ruler that tipping over sentient trees was bad, as was chewing on Bubblegum's papers. Bear Princess didn't understand reading, but she did understand being smacked on the nose with a rolled-up agenda.

Thankfully that had been the only drama at the meeting as once again Flame King hadn't turned up or sent someone in his stead. Although that was hardly surprising, Bubblegum was still greatly relieved. It also wasn't surprising that Marceline hadn't bothered to attend either since the vampire had no concept of responsibility whatsoever. Bubblegum didn't want to see her anyway, definitely not; it wasn't like Marceline's absence worried at her like a loose tooth or anything. Wherever she was, she would no doubt be doing something irresponsible and distasteful and the candy princess was going to stop thinking of her right now. Taking a deep breath, Bubblegum cleared her mind, then realised she could smell burning.

As the scent was faint and she hadn't seen any smoke rising from the castle, the candy princess wasn't unduly worried. Flame Princess had probably just scorched some of the sugar she liked to paint with, that wasn't unusual. Maybe she'd accidentally left something smouldering, but since Bubblegum always checked on the little elemental before going to bed herself, she would soon find out.

Flame Princess' room was close to Bubblegum's, so it only took a few seconds for her to reach it once she stepped out into the corridor. The smell of burning was stronger here, but still not worryingly so. What was starting to concern the candy princess was that it didn't smell of burning sugar, but what else could it be in the Candy Kingdom?

Opening the door to the little elemental's room, Bubblegum went inside. To her relief nothing was burning; the only glow was coming from the bed in the centre of the room. Perhaps the smell was lingering from earlier; everything seemed to be fine. The candy princess paused as she caught sight of the tile Flame Princess used for her paintings and went closer to examine it, smiling gently as she saw the tiny representations of herself, Lady Rainicorn, Peppermint Butler and the other castle inhabitants.

The bed itself was more like an oversized campfire than a sleeping place; Princess Bubblegum had designed it based on her knowledge of the Fire Kingdom and previous elemental visitors. Large logs of slow-burning wood surrounded a central pit of soft ash that Flame Princess had burrowed into, covered by a red firecloth blanket. At first Bubblegum thought the little elemental was asleep, but as she crept over to check on her, Flame Princess lifted her head to look round at her.

"You should be sleeping, Feuer," Bubblegum told her softly. "Were you waiting for me to get back?" The little princess nodded but didn't answer or meet the candy princess' gaze, looking away guiltily. "Is something wrong?" Bubblegum asked with a note of concern in her voice, it wasn't like Flame Princess to behave like this. The fire girl shifted awkwardly beneath her blanket, pulling it closer around herself.

"…I did something bad…" she whispered eventually. "But I'm sorry."

"I'm sure it's not that bad," Bubblegum replied reassuringly, guessing that this might be why the castle smelled of burning. "Why don't you tell me what happened? I promise I won't get mad…"

o.o.o.o.o

"Good evening Princess," Peppermint Butler said cheerfully as he saw the candy princess descending the grand stair. The main hall was spotless thanks to an hour of frantic cleaning and sweeping. The princess would never know what had happened.

"Evening Pepbutt," Bubblegum replied, without the slightest trace of suspicion. "How were things while I was gone?"

"Fine, fine," the mint man replied airily. "Flame Princess was no trouble at all. How was the meeting? I take it Flame King never appeared?"

"No, he never did. The worst part was trying to talk sense into Bear Princess," Bubblegum said with a grimace. "She just doesn't understand why Tree Princess gets so angry with her for using her trees as marking posts; apparently that's a very important cultural thing for bears."

"I'll never understand why she can't just use a noticeboard like everyone else," Peppermint commented. "Or why Tree Princess' subjects can't wear a sash or something to identify them as sentient trees given the amount of diplomatic incidents that happen when one of them gets chopped down for firewood…"

"Ugh, tell me about it," the candy princess groaned. "The Marauders made a boat out of one of them last month, Tree Princess was pretty angry about that too."

Although his expression hadn't shown it, Peppermint had been wound as tightly as a spring when he'd first seen the princess, but he was gradually relaxing now that it seemed that she had believed him when he'd said there had been no problems. "Would you like me to make some tea and run you a bath?" he asked politely. "It sounds like you could do with some relaxation."

"That would be wonderful," Bubblegum said gratefully, but then the tone of her voice abruptly hardened. "Right after you tell me about what happened with Lemongrab. You WERE planning to tell me about that, weren't you?"

Peppermint started sharply at the question, but tried to laugh it off. "Lemongrab? What about Lemongrab milady? I haven't seen him since that last time you tried to pay him a visit, you know, with the whole being hit with a blender and carving fork in the shoulder thing?"

Folding her arms, Bubblegum glared down at him sternly. "Then what's this I hear about Flame Princess setting him on fire?"

"Oh, has Cinnamon Bun been making up stories again?" Peppermint asked with a dismissive wave. "That's ridiculous, only he could make up such nonsense…"

"It wasn't Cinnamon Bun," the candy princess said shortly. "Feuer told me about it herself. Because she felt guilty about keeping it a secret."

Well, that certainly blew large holes in Peppermint Butler's cover story, and he immediately changed tack. "Hey, it was self-defence, and he totally had it coming!" His tone was now distinctly defensive. "It's not her fault Peebs, if you'd been there…"

"I wasn't!" Bubblegum interrupted him with a sharp, commanding gesture. "That's why I want you to tell me exactly what happened."

"Fine," Peppermint sighed. "It was like this…"

o.o.o.o.o

_As the flames enveloped Lemongrab, Peppermint Butler closed his eyes tightly and gritted his teeth, bracing himself for when they spread to him. But although he could feel their heat washing over him and hear Lemongrab screaming, he didn't feel any burning. He cracked one eye open and saw to his amazement that the fire ended abruptly at the earl's wrists, leaving him completely unharmed._

_"You put him down and you go away!" Flame Princess shouted, stamping a small foot as if she was trying to frighten off a mouse._

_For once, Lemongrab did exactly as he was told, hurling the mint man at the little elemental with a shriek of agonised rage. The impact bowled both of them over, and when Peppermint looked up he saw that the earl had fled into the garden, still on fire, still flailing, his camel chasing after him with an anxious bray. Reaching the fountain, Lemongrab hurled himself into it, the flames around him hissing softly as they were extinguished. Beside Peppermint, Flame Princess flinched as if she'd been struck, then took his hand as he helped her back to her feet._

_"Thank you Princess," Peppermint said, with genuine gratitude. Out in the garden, Lemongrab's scorched head emerged from the fountain and he snarled at the two of them from the safety of the water._

_"TRAITORS! DECIEVERS! MISCREANTS!" Although he was still furious, Lemongrab was obviously reconsidering any further attack on them. "When I am the rightful king, you'll both go to the dungeon! INFINITY DUNGEON!"_

_"Oh go and boil your head!" Peppermint retorted, watching as the earl climbed painfully back onto his camel and hauled its head around to face the west. With one last menacing scream, Lemongrab kicked the poor beast in its sides as hard as he could, and it set off at a gallop in the direction of the mountains where the earl's castle was located. "And good riddance too!" the mint man added, slamming the castle doors closed._

_He turned round to see that Flame Princess had sunk down to sit on the floor, her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped tightly around them as she gazed downwards despondently._

_"Princess?" Peppermint asked anxiously, wondering if Lemongrab had hurt her somehow. "Are you all right?"_

_"Mommy's going to be so angry with me," Flame Princess said quietly. "She said I was never, ever to set fire to someone."_

_"Well, you had a very good reason," the mint man told her firmly. "Besides," he continued with a conspiratorial smirk. "I won't tell her if you don't."_

o.o.o.o.o

"So you WEREN'T going to tell me then," Princess Bubblegum commented as Peppermint Butler finished relating the evening's events to her. "Peppermint, I need to know this kind of thing, it's really, really important. I didn't know Flame Princess could set things on fire without touching them, and if I don't know what she can do, I can't help her learn to control it."

"Okay Peebs," the mint man sighed. "Next time I'll…" He paused as he realised the princess hadn't been yelling. "Wait, you're not angry?"

"I can't blame you for what Flame Princess did," Bubblegum replied, sighing. "And I can't really blame Feuer either, she was trying to protect you and Lemongrab didn't really give her an alternative." The princess moved over to a window, running one hand through her hair and tugging at a handful of it in frustration. "I wish I knew what to do about him. What was it he was screaming about?"

While Peppermint Butler had some very good ideas about what the princess should do with Lemongrab, he decided to keep those to himself and just answer her question for now. "He thinks you've replaced him with Flame Princess. That you abandoned him."

"Abandoned him?" Bubblegum's voice was equal parts angry and hurt. "He won't let me near him! You saw what happened last time, he's alone in his castle because that's what he wants, he could leave it at any time! He never replies to my letters, never responds to invitations, throws things at me when I try to see him…"

"And he thinks Flame Princess is a threat to him inheriting the throne of the Candy Kingdom," Peppermint put in helpfully. "That's the main reason he was angry."

"Oh that is just ridiculous!" The candy princess sounded almost as outraged as Lemongrab had earlier. "He's not even the heir to the Candy Kingdom! Because there isn't one!"

"Yeah, I know that, you know that," the mint man began. "But he thinks that since you're his mother, he's heir to the kingdom."

"That still makes no sense!" Bubblegum exclaimed. "Grod, technically I'm just about everyone's mother here. And most of you have been around longer than him. Heck, YOU would be way closer to inheriting the throne than he is, Pepbutt." Seeing the look on his face at those words, the princess continued quickly. "Never gonna happen, don't even think about it."

"Yes milady." Peppermint sighed, disappointed but not surprised. "Soooo… no hard feelings about not telling you Lemongrab got set on fire?" The mint man knew that particular mental image was going to stick with him for quite some time, mainly because he enjoyed it so much.

"Just don't keep anything like that a secret," the princess said firmly. "Flame Princess needs to be able to control her powers, and keeping them hidden won't help anyone. Especially not her, she needs to understand that just because her powers can be dangerous, that doesn't make her bad. She just needs to be responsible." Turning around, the candy princess started to climb the stairs, then looked back towards Peppermint Butler. "Oh, tea and a bath would be great Pepbutt. I'll be in the lab."

"The lab?" Peppermint asked, somewhat perplexed.

"Yes," Bubblegum replied as she continued up the stairs. "If Feuer can shoot fire now, I'll need to design something she can use for target practice…"

* * *

**A/N: **Sadly Lemongrab survived being on fire. I'm disappointed as well.

I don't think I mentioned this in previous chapters, but 'Feuer' is German for 'fire'. Flame Princess' actual name is still Flame Princess, Feuer is just a nickname PB has given her. And I keep writing it as 'Feure' then having to correct it...

In response to Just A Normal Reader, yes, in this AU FP has much better control over her powers. Instead of being locked in a lantern in the Fire Kingdom for thirteen years she's been raised by PB in the Candy Kingdom and taught things like control and not setting fire to people when she's annoyed. Also this means PB's had plenty of time to study her and research as FP's grown so she has a much better idea of what FP can do and how she can control it. So it's really worked out for the best for both of them.

Thanks for all the reviews, favourites and follows guys, I really appreciate them!


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:** Adventure Time belongs to Pendleton Ward/Cartoon Network. Thanks to Rinney and Anna for proof-reading.

* * *

"Oh my Glob Peebs, this is like so totally scandalous!" Princess Bubblegum nearly dropped the beaker she was holding in surprise as Lumpy Space Princess soared through the open window, something that only Marceline had been rude enough to do before now. "Oh hey FP," she added as she flew over the fire girl.

"Hey LSP!" Flame Princess replied cheerfully, plucking Science out of the sugar maze she'd been making. Letting the candy corn rat run up her arm to perch on her shoulder, she followed Lumpy Space Princess over to her mother. "What does scandalous mean?"

"It means this might not be something that's suitable for little girls to be hearing," Princess Bubblegum said with a stern look towards the purple princess. She'd already had to explain some very awkward things to Flame Princess thanks to Lumpy Space Princess' gossiping. Particularly where relationships were concerned.

"Nah, it's totes okay this time, geez," Lumpy Space Princess rolled her eyes, remembering the long lecture she'd gotten about inappropriate topics to speak about in front of seven year-olds. "It's not about getting boys, or cheating or Brad. But it is totally, ultra scandalous you guys." She paused, seeming to inflate as if she was about to explode from the sheer sensationalism of the news. "They caught the leader of that gang of thieves that's been stealing old ladies' purses and bikes and junk!"

"Oh," Bubblegum's response was distinctly underwhelmed. "Well, at least that means no more missing bikes."

"But that's not the super juicy part!" Lumpy Space Princess exclaimed. "The master thief turned out to be... Jake the Dog!"

This time Bubblegum did drop the beaker with a gasp of shock, the toughened glass breaking into several pieces as it hit the tiled floor. "Joshua the Dog's son? Oh Grod... that's awful! His poor parents, they must be so ashamed."

"Is Joshua the Dog the guy who fought all those demons with Billy?" Flame Princess asked. "And helped him beat the Lich King?"

"It was Billy's magic dog that was with him when he fought the Lich, but Joshua fought the demons with him, yes." Bubblegum replied, then Lumpy Space Princess cut in before she could say anything else.

"Yeah, Joshua the Dog is a huge lumping hero. He came into Lumpy Space to help my dad fight the space dragons and totally kicked their boing loins. And then there was the time he beat up the giant greenfly that were messing with Wildberry Princess, and he fought the dragon that stole Emerald Princess' emerald, and he saved Jungle Princess' jungle when Flame King tried to… ow!" Lumpy Space Princess glared at Bubblegum, rubbing her side where the other princess had elbowed her, hard. "Okay, I get it, geez. No talking about that guy. Anyway, Joshua the Dog is still a total awesome hero. And now his son is like totally disgracing him. The trial is gonna be a total DRAMABOMB!"

"The judge will probably want a princess jury," Bubblegum sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she looked down at her decorpsinator notes. "I so don't have time for this…"

"Well, it's okay for you Peebs," Lumpy Space Princess said indignantly. "I never get asked to be on a princess jury, it's totally not fair, you guys get to hear all the really scandalous stuff!"

"Can I be in the princess jury?" Flame Princess asked excitedly. "I'm a princess!"

"No Feuer, you're too young," the candy princess replied gently. "And LSP, when you're on a princess jury you're not allowed a cellphone and you can't talk about what happens until after the trial is over."

"Well that sucks," Lumpy Space Princess snorted. "What's the lumping point of knowing all the really juicy stuff if you can't tell anyone then?"

A knock at the door interrupted the conversation, and all three of them looked round to see Peppermint Butler enter the room carrying a scroll. "Princess, a courier just delivered this from the Grand High Judge at the Royal Congressional Hall, it's…"

"A summons for me to serve on the jury at the trial of Jake the Dog," Bubblegum finished for him. Peppermint blinked in surprise, impressed.

"Well… yes actually, that's exactly what it is," he admitted, nonchalantly tossing the scroll away over his shoulder. "And isn't it SUCH a terrible surprise? The son of Joshua the Dog, a common thief."

"No way guy, he's like a MASTER thief," Lumpy Space Princess corrected him. "But it is like SO shocking and stuff, I can hardly stand it! What do you think his mom will say about it?"

"Woah, hold it right there you two," Princess Bubblegum glared at both Peppermint Butler and Lumpy Space Princess disapprovingly. "Joshua and Margaret the Dogs aren't to blame here, and I won't have you talking about them like that in my presence."

Peppermint Butler and Lumpy Space Princess looked at each other, then back at Bubblegum as the purple princess spoke again. "Okay, so we'll do it elsewhere then," Lumpy Space Princess retorted. "You're such a buzzkill sometimes Peebs."

"Fine." Bubblegum said shortly. "I'll need to go and pack anyway, this could take days. I just hope they don't have Tree Princess on the jury," she added with a grimace. "It takes her at least a week to consider each charge."

As Peppermint Butler and Lumpy Space Princess left the room, the candy princess heard them immediately start to whisper in hushed voices as the door closed behind them and sighed. She didn't envy Joshua and Margaret one bit, since she knew that similar conversations would be taking place all over Ooo as the news spread across the land.

"Can I come too?" Flame Princess asked hopefully, looking up at her beseechingly. "I wanna see Joshua the Dog! Will Billy be there too?"

"Welllll…" Bubblegum drew the word out as she considered it, then nodded. "Okay, I guess you're old enough to come with me, but you won't be allowed to sit in on the trial, you wouldn't like it anyway, and I don't think Billy will be there. It is about time you were introduced to some of the other princesses though."

"Yay! Thanks mom!" The fire girl's expression lit up in excitement as she leapt into the air and stayed there, hugging the candy princess briefly and then doing a mid-air somersault as Science clung to her shoulder for dear life, squeaking in alarm. "Oh, sorry Science!" Flame Princess gently set the rat down on a workbench, then returned to her gleeful acrobatics. "This is going to be so awesome!"

Bubblegum couldn't help laughing at the girl's enthusiasm. "It's a trial Feuer, not the Carnival Kingdom. It's not really something to be excited about."

"But I get to go to one of your boring adult things with you!" Flame Princess didn't seem deterred in the slightest. "And I get to go to the Bad Lands, and the Royal Congressional Hall, and meet other princesses, and Joshua the Dog and I know you said Billy probably wouldn't be there, but he might be, right?"

"I suppose he might be," the candy princess admitted. "He is good friends with Joshua so he might go to support him. It is serious though," she added soberly. "So I don't think they'll feel like talking to you or telling stories."

"Okay mom, I understand." Flame Princess replied, sinking back to the floor. "But it's still totally math! What are the other princesses like? Are they like you or like Lumpy Space Princess or are they completely different?"

"They're all different Feuer," Bubblegum explained. "Some are a bit like me, yes, and some are more like Lumpy Space Princess. But a lot of them aren't like either of us. They won't all be there, just the ones on the jury."

Now the candy princess was really hoping that Tree Princess wasn't going to be on the jury, if there was one thing the plant monarch disliked even more than seeing her people get tipped over by bears, it was fire elementals. She almost reconsidered her decision to let Flame Princess come with her then, but the fire girl was so excited that Bubblegum couldn't bring herself to change her mind. Besides, after the last trial that had Tree Princess on the jury had lasted six months due to her insistence on doing everything in tree time, the other princesses and the Grand High Judge had reached an informal agreement not to summon her for jury duty again.

Looking down at her daughter, Bubblegum rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "We'll need to pack a formal dress for you as well. First impressions are very important…"

* * *

**A/N: **Well, if you were wondering where Finn and Jake are, wonder no more. It's not Jake's fault he's a master thief, he didn't know it was wrong! He just better hope that defense holds up in court...


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer:** Adventure Time belongs to Pendleton Ward/Cartoon Network. Thanks to Rinney and Anna for proof-reading.

* * *

"Dad? Why did mom run off crying when I asked her if Jake's coming home now?" The question that the small human boy had asked Joshua the Dog was just as innocent as it had been when he'd asked Margaret. But unlike his wife, Joshua managed to hide the painful emotions it had caused him.

"Well Finn, your mother's just a little hormonal at the moment," he lied. "All sorts of womanly things going on in there right now. Don't pay any attention to it, she'll be fine. As for your brother Jake," and here Joshua couldn't stop the anger from creeping into his voice, he knew if he didn't get angry he'd probably cry like Margaret. "Jake's been very naughty and might have to go away for a while."

"But he's been gone for months!" Finn protested, looking up at his adopted father with wide, sorrowful eyes. "I thought he was going to come home now. Aren't we here to get him?" The two dogs and the human boy were standing at the foot of the mountain that the Royal Congressional Hall was built on and partly into, at the foot of the steps leading to the main entrance.

Joshua breathed out a long, heavy sigh that seemed to take his anger with it. "I know son, but Jake's… been naughty. He might have to be grounded for a while. And not in his room."

Finn giggled at that, the severity of the situation flying right over his bear-capped head. "Jake's too big to be grounded, he's a teenager now!"

Despite himself, Joshua couldn't help smiling at his adopted son. "He's not that big m'boy, and he's not too big for a spanking neither. Now, why don't you run off and play while I have a word with Jermaine here? Just don't go out into the Bad Lands."

"Hey Finn, why don't we play Cloud Hunt?" Jermaine suggested before the little human could run off. "You go hide while I talk to Dad, then I'll come find you, okay?"

"Yay! I love Cloud Hunt!" Finn took off at top speed to find a hiding place, singing the rhyme Joshua had taught him as he went. "Over the mountain, the ominous cloud. Coming to cover the land in a shroud…"

"Remember to stop singing that once you're hiding," Jermaine called after him. "It makes it too easy to find you! He's a good kid," he added to his father once Finn was out of earshot.

"You're both good kids, it's your brother that worries me." Joshua's face fell as he sighed again. "I don't know where we went wrong with him; did he just fall in with a bad crowd or something?"

Jermaine shrugged, not entirely sure what had made his twin turn to crime either. "Dunno, Dad. That Tiffany kid always did seemed a bit off, so did those Lettuce Brothers. Didn't think they were crooks though."

"Well, your mother and I agreed that Finn isn't to know anything about Jake being a thief. You know how impressionable he is," Joshua said sternly. "We don't want him getting the wrong message, all he needs to know is that his brother is in big trouble. So keep him out here and away from the courtroom, we're counting on you, Jermaine."

"Sure thing, Dad. Give Jake a smack upside the head for me, will ya?" Turning towards the direction Finn had run off in, Jermaine cupped his hands round his mouth and shouted after him. "Okay, here comes the cloud, you better be hiding!" With that, he headed off after the boy, who had completely vanished from sight.

"Oh, he'll be getting more than a smack upside the head when I'm done with him," Joshua muttered as he headed up the stairs to the main entrance of the Royal Congressional Hall. "Didn't know it was wrong my foot…"

o.o.o.o.o

"Right... let me look at you." Kneeling in front of Flame Princess and wearing her fireproof gloves, Princess Bubblegum carefully neatened the girl's flaming hair. Although the little elemental could touch things without burning them, most of her excess heat was channelled out through her hair which made it too hot for Bubblegum to touch without protection.

They had arrived at the Royal Congressional Hall the morning after the candy princess had received the summons, flying there on Lady Rainicorn. Flame Princess had flown some of the way herself, but it was too far for her to be able to make it all the way herself, at least not until she was older. Both of them were wearing more formal dress than usual, Bubblegum's gown was dark purple and more elaborate and regal than her usual dress.

Flame Princess was feeling more than a little uncomfortable in her dress. It was more restrictive than the light smock she was used to, and she disliked the full skirt as she kept tripping on it. Worst of all, Bubblegum had insisted that she wear shoes. But her mother's dress looked just as cumbersome, so the fire girl guessed it must be a princess thing.

Reaching into the case beside her, Bubblegum took out an open-ended gold circlet and carefully settled it onto Flame Princess' head. The open ends curled back on themselves to sit flush against either side of the gem set into the fire girl's forehead, and though it appeared to be pure gold it was heavily alloyed with titanium to resist the heat of her hair.

"There." Rocking back on her heels, Bubblegum looked at the little elemental critically. "Now you definitely look like a princess."

"But I'm always a princess," the fire girl replied, bewildered. "Don't I always look like one?"

Bubblegum had to think about that one for a moment. "Well, yes, I know you're always a princess sweetheart. But other people might not if you're not dressed like one."

"Will I always have to wear this now?" Flame Princess' voice was genuinely horrified, and Bubblegum laughed gently.

"No Feuer, just while we're here," the candy princess replied. "I know how you feel, believe me." She looked down at herself with a wry smile, missing her simple gown and lab coat already. "It's so awkward doing anything remotely productive when I'm dressed like this..." Getting back to her feet, Bubblegum reached down to take Flame Princess' hand. "Well, we'd better go see the other princesses before the trial starts, come on."

The fire girl didn't move, looking up at Bubblegum anxiously. "What if they don't like me? Pepbutt said I burned Toast Princess when I was really little and she was mad but he thought it was really funny. Will she still be mad?"

"Well, firstly I don't think she's here, she's not on the jury roster," Bubblegum began, having seen the roster when she'd arrived. "Secondly, you'd only just turned a year old at the time, and you thought that since she was toast, it was okay to burn her. Yes, she was mad, but it wasn't your fault she had to be scraped for an hour afterwards. I'd told her to be careful around you. And I don't think she'll still be mad, that was years ago now."

"Okay mom," Looking somewhat reassured, Flame Princess followed her mother into the corridor outside their chambers, holding her hand tightly. She was still a little nervous, but she also wanted to meet the other princesses. The only one she really knew besides her mother was Lumpy Space Princess.

The Royal Congressional Hall was very different from the Candy Castle, it was larger, grander and yet more sombre. It lacked the bright colours of the Candy Kingdom, but made up for it with elaborate architecture and decoration that involved a lot of gilding. The hallways were nearly twice as high as the ones in the Candy Castle, the vaulted ceiling disappearing into shadow. Flame Princess couldn't help thinking that they'd be great for flying in, but she knew that probably wouldn't be allowed.

Arriving at a large double door, Bubblegum rapped on it with her knuckles then pushed one of the doors open and led Flame Princess inside. The room on the other side was a massive circular chamber that looked like it could have held the entire Candy Foyer easily. In the middle of the room was a large round table that could sit a full jury of fifteen, but only four chairs were occupied. Princess Bubblegum thought that was a good sign for the accused, if the judge had decided on a jury of five then it meant he was considering the charges petty theft instead of grand larceny.

Approaching the table, aware that Flame Princess was now hiding behind her, Bubblegum nodded to her fellow royals, and greeted them in turn. "Good morning ladies. Slime Princess, Wildberry Princess, Turtle Princess, Bear Princess." The presence of the latter wasn't entirely surprising; despite being a bear the ursine monarch was calmer than a lot of the other princesses. In fact, all of the monarchs present were known to be relatively level-headed, which was another good sign.

"Good morning Princess Bubblegum," Slime Princess replied, then tilted to one side to try and see the small figure behind her. It would probably have been much easier for Flame Princess to keep hidden if she wasn't made of fire. "And… uhm… this is?"

"This is Flame Princess." Putting one hand on the fire girl's shoulder, Bubblegum gently drew her around to stand in front of her. "My daughter." She didn't elaborate on that statement; the candy princess knew that the others would have heard the story behind it at some point. Though she did hope that none of them were about to question it.

Flame Princess smiled shyly, somewhat reassured by the fact that both Slime Princess and Wildberry Princess were smaller than she was, and Turtle Princess was smiling. Bear Princess on the other hand was more than a little intimidating, a gigantic, shaggy brown bear at least twice the size of the biggest one she'd seen in the woods around the Candy Kingdom. She was wearing a tiny, delicate-looking gold tiara set with a blue gem between her ears, half-hidden by thick fur, and turned in her seat to lean down and snuff at Flame Princess curiously.

Straightening up, Bear Princess tilted her head to the side and huffed a short, gruff query towards Princess Bubblegum. Unlike some of her subjects, she'd never bothered to learn human languages. But as she was a princess her fellow royals could still understand her, much as they understood Mini Queen or Wolf King. From the look Slime Princess gave the bear, it was clear that if she'd had legs, she'd have been kicking her under the table.

"Why did she say I don't smell like you?" Flame Princess asked Bubblegum curiously.

"Probably because you don't smell of sugar as much," Bubblegum replied quickly, shooting a glare towards the ursine princess that made her all but sink below the table.

"Oh. Okay." To Bubblegum's relief, the fire girl seemed to accept that at face value. Straightening up self-consciously, Flame Princess made a small curtsey to the other princesses just as she'd been taught. "It's nice to meet you all."

"It's nice to meet you too," Slime Princess replied, echoed by Wildberry Princess and Turtle Princess and followed by an affirmative growl from Bear Princess. Flame Princess thought she saw Slime Princess shoot an odd, almost nervous glance towards her mother, but when she spoke again she sounded completely casual. "Princess Bubblegum, we really do need to start looking at the trial documents… I don't think that would be suitable for your daughter."

Bubblegum knew that was code for 'we want to talk to you about your daughter', but since that was inevitable, she supposed she might as well get it out of the way. "I suppose not. Feuer, do you want to go flying with Lady Rainicorn for now? She's waiting at the grand entrance."

As Flame Princess had been growing increasingly uncomfortable upon realising that she really didn't know what princesses who weren't her mother liked to talk about, she seized the opportunity gratefully. "Okay!" Completely forgetting to say goodbye, the fire girl dashed away, and Bubblegum took her seat as the door closed behind her.

Raising her blocky head slightly, Bear Princess grunted an apology, followed by a couple of queries that made Bubblegum roll her eyes. "Yes, she's adopted," the candy princess sighed. "No, she doesn't know that. Do not tell her."

"Seriously, how could you have missed that?" Wildberry Princess asked, getting a low, embarrassed growl in response. "Oh come on, you haven't been hibernating for seven years!"

"Is she really adopted?" Turtle Princess' sudden question immediately got the other princess' attention, though Bubblegum noticed that both Wildberry Princess and Slime Princess were looking at the humanoid turtle with looks that clearly said 'I can't believe you actually asked that' rather than shock at the implied suggestion. Realising that everyone at the table was now staring at her, Turtle Princess started to shrink nervously into her shell. "I mean… uhm… there are these rumours that you just said she's adopted but really… uhh…" Her head was now fully withdrawn into her shell, but her voice still echoed from within it. "What really happened was that you and Flame King…"

"WHAT?!" Slamming both hands on the table with a bang that made all four of the other princesses jump, Bubblegum pushed her chair away and got to her feet, furious. "Those rumours are utter junk! Who in Gob's name has been spreading that kind of…" There was a pause as the candy princess considered that question. "It was Lumpy Space Princess, wasn't it?"

"Well, no." This time it was Slime Princess who spoke. "At least not to begin with anyway. I don't know if this is true, but what I heard was that Rock Princess saw Flame King at one of those underground lava balls they have down there. And… uh… she asked him about why Flame Princess is with you. You know, for someone made of stone who sits in the same place for weeks on end growing lichen, she is so obsessed with gossip."

"What did Flame King say?" Bubblegum asked through gritted teeth, though she had a very good idea already.

Slime Princess shifted awkwardly on her chair, blushing. "Uhh, well, I don't know if these are his exact words… it was something along the lines of not confirming or denying anything but, uhm, you might like a little fire in the bedroom."

Taking a deep, deep breath, Bubblegum released it slowly, trying to clear her mind and calm herself. This was no time to be getting would up about silly rumours. "That. Is junk," she said shortly. "Let me make this absolutely clear; as far as I'm concerned Flame Princess is my daughter. But I wouldn't touch Flame King with a twenty-foot asbestos bargepole. And why did nobody ask ME about this?" she demanded, thumping her fist down on the table. "I didn't think Flame King was so approachable what with the evil and all..."

"I was too embarrassed," Turtle Princess replied from inside her shell. "But... uh... since Ice King hasn't kidnapped you since you got Flame Princess, we thought that Flame King must have had something to do with it."

"I did think that too," Wildberry Princess added as Slime Princess nodded in agreement. "He used to kidnap you all the time, then he just stopped."

Bubblegum sighed, massaging her temples with both hands. "And once again, if someone had just asked me, I could have explained that..."

_Feeling a frigid breeze across the back of her neck, Bubblegum groaned softly, keeping her back to the window. "What do you want, Ice King?"_

_"You knew it was me!" The ancient wizard sounded delighted. "You know me so well princess, that's how I know it's meant to be!" He cleared his throat awkwardly, and then continued. "So, uh, wanna go back to my place? See, I'm even asking you this time instead of kidnapping you, that's gotta count for something, right? Right?" The only response he got was a sleepy, high-pitched grumble, then Bubblegum sighed._

_"Great, now you've gone and woken her up," the candy princess muttered. "I'd just gotten her to sleep." As she turned towards him, the Ice King gave a startled yell as he saw the tiny elemental girl in her arms._

_"What in the name of permafrost is that?!" he yelped, eyes wide with horror._

_"SHE is Flame Princess," Bubblegum replied with a hard edge to her voice as the little fire girl blinked drowsily at Ice King. "I adopted her."_

_"Phew," The Ice King grinned as he sighed in relief. "Then you can just... give her back, right? Unadopt her? Because I am so not into you being a mom, that's just not sexy."_

_Bubblegum gave him a long, hard glare before finally replying. "She's not going anywhere Ice King, she's my daughter now. And if you can't deal with that, get the fudge out."_

_Ice King's eyes narrowed as he looked at her in what seemed like concentration, then he shook his head in defeat. "Nope. Still not into it. Call me when it grows up and moves out, okay?" With that, the old wizard rose into the air and flew off, headed back to the Ice Kingdom as Bubblegum stared after him in disbelief._

_"Wow. That was easy," she commented to herself, then looked down at Flame Princess. "Looks like you scared him off for good, Feuer. I couldn't have done that." The little elemental only yawned tiredly, then snuggled against Bubblegum's chest and went back to sleep._

"Ohhhhh." The other princesses nodded as they made sounds or growls of understanding.

"I wonder if that would work for me..." Slime Princess mused to herself, and then shook her head. "Never mind." Bear Princess huffed irritably in response, and Slime Princess rolled her eyes. "Yes, we know he ended up throwing you out, but that's not our fault." The ursine monarch made some further grumbling sounds; clearly still offended by the entire affair of her short-lived kidnapping but the other princesses ignored her.

"I still have a question," Turtle Princess stated, her head slowly starting to emerge from her shell again. "Aren't fire elementals evil? Are you sure it's safe for her to be on the surface?"

Princess Bubblegum had been wondering when that issue would come up. "Absolutely sure," she replied confidently. "I don't think fire elementals, or elementals or any kind, are intrinsically evil. They're anthropomorphic personifications of forces of nature, and nature isn't evil, it's neutral." As she looked around the table she could see that Turtle Princess and Slime Princess were considering that, but Wildberry Princess and Bear Princess were nodding. "Flame Princess isn't dangerous, and I'll take full responsibility for any damage she might cause."

Pulling her chair back to the table, Bubblegum sat down and folded her arms in front of her in a business-like manner. "Now let's start looking over the trial documents before the court session starts without us…"

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**A/N: **Finally, Finn gets an appearance! As an adorable seven year-old. But still not as adorable as baby Flame Princess. And an explanation for why Ice King hasn't shown up at all, in case people were wondering. Also, Bear Princess is not a princess from the show or the comic (as far as I know), she's a princess I made up mostly because I find the thought of a bear wearing a tiara really funny.

Once again, thanks for all the reviews, favourites and follows, you guys are great. I can't believe that the silly one-off that wasn't even going to have a proper plot has actually turned into my most-reviewed story on FFN. As always, if you have questions you can ask them on my Tumblr, which currently has anonymous asks enabled if you don't have a Tumblr account.

Next chapter: Trial of the Century-y-y-y-y-y!


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer:** Adventure Time belongs to Pendleton Ward/Cartoon Network. Thanks to Rinney and Anna for proof-reading.

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_[This is a Rainicorn game; it's called Human Hunt,] _Lady explained to Flame Princess. She and the fire girl had flown several laps around the Royal Congressional Hall already; the rainicorn didn't want to take her too far. There was only a small stand of trees around the base of the mountain the hall had been built on that separated it from the Bad Lands. Thankfully it was a clear, cloudless day as it wasn't unusual for the building to be above the cloud cover and flying through clouds was bad for the little elemental as they cooled her rapidly.

"What's a human?" Flame Princess asked curiously. "Is that like a shoe man?" Her own shoes were sitting by the entrance to the hall, the first thing the fire girl had done when she'd got outside had been to kick them off.

_[No, no, no,]_ Lady replied. _[They lived all over Ooo before the Mushroom War, but there aren't any left now.]_

Flame Princess frowned at that, confused. "Then how do you hunt them?"

Lady laughed, shaking her head_. [That's just what the game is called little princess, it's like hide and seek but the rules are different. First we need to have somewhere to be the human den, how about the porch?]_ She pointed towards the elaborate porticoes over the main entrance to the hall.

"Okay." Flame Princess nodded in agreement. "Then what?"

_[Then one of us is the rainicorn and the other is the human. It's better when you have more people to be humans,]_ Lady added with a sigh, remembering playing this with her friends in the Crystal Dimension._ [But we can still play. The rainicorn has to count to twenty while the humans hide, then the rainicorn tries to find them. If the humans can make it back to the human den before the rainicorn can find them and catch them, they win. Do you understand?]_

"Yeah, that sounds fun!" Flame Princess said excitedly, starting to hover in mid-air. "Can I be the human first?"

_[Of course,]_ Lady smiled. _[But you can't go past the trees around the mountain, okay?]_

"Okay!" Flame Princess agreed. "I'm gonna go hide!"

Watching the little elemental go soaring off, Lady chuckled fondly, then turned towards the hall and started to count. _[One, two, three...]_

o.o.o.o.o

Landing in front of the belt of trees, Flame Princess glanced back over her shoulder to see if Lady Rainicorn was following her. There was no sign of the rainicorn, so the fire girl turned back to the woods and took a deep breath, concentrating.

"Heat rises, up to my hair," she chanted softly. "I'm not gonna burn things if I take care." Princess Bubblegum had made up the rhyme for her to help her focus. While making herself hotter was easy, making herself cooler was more difficult. But it was similar to using her sugar paints: with those she had to make her hands hotter. This was just making the heat go in the opposite direction, like when she was flying.

Looking down at the grass beneath her feet, Flame Princess took an experimental step forward. Nothing happened. No scorching or smouldering, the grass simply bent beneath her weight. It would be safe for her to go into the trees. Or rather, safe for the trees to have her amongst them. Lady wouldn't be expecting her to hide here. Giggling, the fire girl darted forwards into the shadowy woods.

Hovering just above the ground, Flame Princess floated silently through the trees, looking for a good hiding spot. The bushes weren't an option, those would go up in flames if her hair got tangled in them. Instead she looked for large rocks she could hide behind or big trees with branches she could perch in without her hair burning them.

Since she was making no noise whatsoever, Flame Princess immediately noticed the sound of someone murmuring nearby, and headed towards it inquisitively.

"…hide in a bushel, a basement, a cave, but when cloud comes a' huntin', no-one's a save…" The words were coming from the base of one of the biggest trees, where a huge root was arching out of the earth. As Flame Princess flew over it, she saw that it formed a small, natural cave on the other side where the earth beneath it had crumbled away. And hiding there was a small boy who jumped in surprise as he saw her above him.

"Aaah! You're not Jermaine! Are you an evil fire witch because I'll kick your buns if you are!" Drawing a wooden sword, the boy sank into a defensive crouch, which made the fire girl giggle. He looked so serious.

"I'm not a witch," Flame Princess replied, landing in front of the boy's hiding place. "I'm a princess!"

Lowering his sword, the boy looked at her suspiciously for a moment, taking in the dress and gold circlet. His eyes narrowed. "Don't princesses wear shoes?"

"Pfffft, no!" the fire girl replied scornfully. "How many princesses have YOU met? Because I've met at least six besides my mom and none of them wear shoes! Two of them don't even have feet."

"Oh." The boy seemed crestfallen. "Wait, so you're a princess for reals then?"

"Duh," Flame Princess folded her arms, starting to get annoyed now. Her mother had said that she was dressed like a princess after all, and everyone else had known she was one. Maybe the boy was just stupid. She wasn't even sure what he was, not a candy person obviously but he had ears like a bear. Maybe he was related to Bear Princess?

"I'm sorry, your Highness!" Scrambling out of his hiding place, the boy sank to one knee in an exaggerated courtly bow. He was wearing a light blue t-shirt and navy shorts, both rather grubby now, in addition to the white bear hat, black canvas shoes and an overly large green backpack. "My name is Finn the Human, how can I serve you?" He raised his head slightly to look at her as he continued. "I wanna be a knight you see. Do you have any quests for me?"

Flame Princess giggled helplessly, not quite sure what to make of him. "You're weird." Then she remembered what Lady Rainicorn had told her earlier and frowned. "And you can't be a human, they're all gone."

"Nuh-uh, I totally am a human!" Getting back to his feet, Finn pulled off his hat, revealing long blonde hair and human ears. "But my dad says I might be the last one," he added cheerfully. "Mom says that means I'm super special."

"Oh," the fire girl said as Finn put his hat back on, jamming it tightly over his hair. "I'm Flame Princess. I've never even seen a human before. Do you live out here?"

"Naw, I'm here with my family to get my brother Jake," Finn explained. "He's been away for a while and my dad said he's been bad and I think that's why we came all the way here?" He shrugged, not entirely sure himself. "Anyway, we live in the woods by the Grass Lands. What about you? Do you come from the Fire Kingdom?"

"Fire Kingdom?" Flame Princess' forehead creased in confusion. "I live in the Candy Kingdom. I didn't know there WAS a Fire Kingdom."

"But you're made of fire." The human boy seemed just as bewildered. "So aren't you supposed to live in the Fire Kingdom with the other fire people?"

Flame Princess stared at him, having never given the matter much thought herself. She had been telling the truth when she'd said she didn't know that there was a Fire Kingdom, or fire people for that matter. She knew she was a fire elemental because that was what her mother had told her; maybe that meant the same thing? "I don't think so," she replied eventually. "My mom's the princess of the Candy Kingdom, that's why I live there."

"Ohhhh," Finn's eyes widened in sudden realisation. "Then you must be ad…" Before he could finish the sentence, a flash of rainbow colours swooped down from the sky, twisting through the trees with effortless agility and snatching up Flame Princess like a hawk catching a mouse.

_[Caught you, little princess,]_ Lady Rainicorn laughed, and then arced back down to the ground to the other small figure. _[Did you make a friend? OW!]_ The moment she landed, the small boy ran forwards and whapped her smartly on the nose with his wooden sword.

"You let Flame Princess go right now, dragon!" Finn ordered. He'd never seen a rainicorn before but he had seen dragons, and some of them had looked sort of like this strange rainbow creature. Besides, it had tried to kidnap Flame Princess, and dragons often did that with princesses.

"She's not a dragon, she's Lady Rainicorn!" Flame Princess said quickly, before Finn could strike again. "She's my friend, don't hit her."

"Oh." Stopping in mid-swing, Finn blushed bright red as Lady glared at him, rubbing her nose. "I'm sorry; I thought you were kidnapping Flame Princess."

_[I suppose that's all right,]_ Lady grumbled, her nose still stinging. _[Just don't do it again.]_

Finn glanced towards Flame Princess helplessly. "Uhm, I don't know what she's saying. Is she mad? She sounds kinda mad."

"She said it was okay, but don't do it again," Flame Princess translated for him. She knew that not everyone understood Lady Rainicorn like she and her mother did since Lady spoke a different language. "Lady, this is Finn the Human, he was hiding out here too. Does this mean I win at Human Hunt?"

_[A human?]_ Lady had never actually seen one, neither had her parents. They'd supposedly been extinct for nearly a thousand years, but this boy certainly didn't look anything like the other inhabitants of Ooo that she'd met over the years. He was humanoid like Princess Bubblegum, but his skin was a different colour and he didn't have the same sweet, sugary scent. In fact, he smelled very strongly of dog but beneath that there was something else, an unfamiliar yet extremely tempting odour that made her mouth water.

"YOU GET AWAY FROM MY LITTLE BROTHER!" The furious yell came from a tan dog, who came hurtling over the root that Finn had been hiding under to land on all fours in front of the boy, snarling and barking at the rainicorn.

Jermaine had been following the sounds of voices through the woods. At first he'd thought that Finn still hadn't quite grasped the concept of hiding, but then he'd realised there was another voice, a girl. Curious, he'd picked up the pace only to see a rainicorn standing in front of where his nose told him Finn was and immediately went on the defensive. Rainicorns ate humans.

Charging towards them, he leapt over the large root and took a defensive position in front of his brother. He had noticed the fire girl as well but paid no attention to her for now. The rainicorn was the threat. Fur bristling, he let out a volley of threatening barks, teeth clipping together with sharp metallic clicks just short of the rainicorn's bruised nose. Finn must have been trying to fight her off with his wooden sword; he'd need to speak to their father about letting the boy have a real one if there were rainicorns around.

Taking hold of Flame Princess, Lady backed away warily. Her father had taught her that she shouldn't hate dogs just because of the war in the Crystal Dimension; he'd been saved by a dog when he'd been injured behind enemy lines and had impressed on her that she should judge them as individuals, not as a racial enemy. _[It's okay!] _she said placatingly, seeing that the dog was calming down as she moved further back. _[The war was a long time ago; we don't want to fight you.]_

Jermaine had no idea what the rainicorn was saying, but slowly covered his teeth as she moved away. "I don't know your language," he growled, hackles still raised. "Just go away and leave us alone!"

"She said the war was a long time ago," Flame Princess called back, sharing a look of utter bewilderment with Finn. Neither of them had any idea why their respective guardian was acting like this. "We don't want to fight!"

"The war?" Jermaine asked incredulously. "I don't care about the stinkin' war; she's not eating my little brother!"

"She wasn't gonna eat me, Jermaine!" Finn had come forward to stand beside her brother, petting his ears comfortingly. "You're being all crazy. We were just talking."

Lady almost laughed in relief, the dog's reaction made much more sense now; this wasn't some grudge from the Rainicorn-Dog War. _[We don't eat people any more,] _she explained, hoping Flame Princess would translate for her. _[Not for nearly a thousand years. We eat soy people instead. I'm not going to eat your brother.]_

"Rainicorns used to eat people?" Flame Princess asked curiously, and Finn's eyes widened as he clung to Jermaine.

"I don't wanna be eaten!" he began to protest, but fell silent as Flame Princess spoke again.

"No, she says that was nearly a thousand years ago, and she's not going to eat you," the fire girl continued. "And I've never, ever seen her eat a human, honest," she added, not mentioning that Finn was the first human she'd ever seen.

Jermaine looked at both the rainicorn and the fire girl suspiciously for a few moments, then his fur smoothed out and he pushed himself up onto his hind legs. "Okay then," he said, looking slightly embarrassed. "Sorry about the barking and stuff," he added grudgingly. "I go kinda nuts when I think my family's in danger. It's a dog thing."

_[It's okay, I understand,] _Lady replied, setting Flame Princess down.

"She says it's okay, she understands," Flame Princess translated helpfully.

There was a short, awkward pause as Jermaine looked hard at them, his eyes narrowing then widening in horror. "Oh fudge, aren't you the rainicorn that's friends with Princess Bubblegum?" he asked in a strangled yelp.

"Yes she is!" Flame Princess answered for her. "Princess Bubblegum is my mom." If anything, Jermaine's expression became even more horrified at that bit of information.

"Crud, I am so, so sorry! I just saw a rainicorn next to my little brother and freaked!" If the rainicorn was friends with the candy princess, Jermaine knew that meant Finn had never been in danger. "I'm just kinda on edge right now, what with my brother Jake being…" He caught himself just in time. "Being very naughty," he finished, with a cautious glance towards Finn.

"Jake the Dog?" Flame Princess remembered the name from what Lumpy Space Princess had said the day before. "That's why my mom's here, isn't he…" She fell silent as Lady tugged at the back of her dress, glancing round towards the rainicorn. "What?"

"What about Jake?" Finn asked. "What's that to do with Princess Bubblegum?"

From Jermaine's expression, Lady could tell this was a delicate subject. _[Princess, don't say anything else about Jake the Dog,]_ she whispered to the fire girl urgently. _[Don't ask, just trust me.]_

"What did she say?" Finn looked sceptical, starting to suspect there was more going on here than anyone had told him.

"I think she said that she wants to play Cloud Hunt too!" Jermaine said quickly. "You be the Cloud this time Finn, you go count to twenty and we'll hide."

"Count to twenty?!" Finn whined, looking as enthusiastic about that prospect as he did about bath time. "But Jermaine, you know I can only count to ten!"

"Then count to ten twice, Finny," his brother replied. "Off you go, no peeking!" Jermaine gave the boy a meaningful shove and Finn headed off reluctantly. "Keep going!" the dog called after him. "Right back to the steps we started from before." Turning back to Lady and Flame Princess, he sighed heavily in relief. "Sorry. Dad told me I wasn't to let him find out that Jake's a thief. Don't tell him, okay?"

"Okay," Flame Princess agreed for both of them. "What's Cloud Hunt? Is it like Human Hunt?"

Lady Rainicorn laughed nervously as Jermaine gave her an uneasy look, not liking the sound of that name. _[No, it's just like hide and seek,]_ she told the little elemental quickly. _[Uhm… it might be best if you didn't mention Human Hunt any more…]_

* * *

**A/N: **Yeah, I know I said this chapter would be the Trial of the Century-y-y-y-y-y, but since people were keen to see interaction between Finn and Flame Princess, I went with this instead. Next chapter will be focusing on the trial, this is what's going on outside. PB's going to have some awkward explaining to do later when Flame Princess asks about Human Hunt...

Some answers to questions from reviews:

Odradem: Unfortunately for PB, she is known to be an ingenious, scientifically-inclined princess, so probably a lot of the gossip about her an Flame King assumes that she's found some kind of science-y way to make things work. Which just offends PB even more, because she'd never stoop to using science for such things. At least not with Flame King anyway...

IamYlen: Seven year-old Finn is basically Finn from Slumber Party Panic only smaller, his hair is a bit shorter, and his shorts and shirt are slightly different colours. He still has the backpack, but it's way larger on him when he's seven.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:** Adventure Time belongs to Pendleton Ward/Cartoon Network. Thanks to Rinney and Anna for proof-reading.

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The mournful strains of viola music threaded upwards through the spiral stairs leading to the dungeons that had been chiselled into the very bedrock of the mountain that the Royal Congressional Hall was built on. The guard led the way with a lantern held high; the only light down here came through the thin slits carved high into the wall on one side of the dungeon. Behind him, talons clicked sedately on the stone floor, the lawyer had been down here many times and knew the way just as well as the guard did.

"Jake the Dog!" The music stopped as the guard shouted the prisoner's name, and a canine shape moved into the circle of light cast by the lantern, grasping the bars of his cell. "Your lawyer's here to speak with you before the trial starts." Taking up his position opposite the door, the guard immediately tuned out and stared ahead blankly. Legal talk always gave him a headache.

Jake looked at the dark figure of the lawyer suspiciously, still wondering if he'd made the right decision. He could have used his stretchy powers to escape. But if he ran now, he knew he'd be running for the rest of his life.

"Good morning," the lawyer said, his voice smooth and cultured. "I'm Jasper O'Malley, Attorney at Law. Some folks call me the Legal Eagle."

"But you're a raven," Jake replied, eyeing the lawyer doubtfully. Jasper O'Malley was indeed a large raven, blue-black feathers glossy even in the dim light, his beak and claws meticulously polished. He was wearing a neat tweed waistcoat that left his wings free, spotless white spats that had clearly been specifically made for four-toed avian feet and a pair of pince-nez spectacles was perched on his beak.

"It's just a nickname, son." Jasper replied. "Besides, us corvids are considered the smartest of birds, which is lucky for you since you're in one heck of a pickle. Normally I wouldn't even consider taking on a case as open and shut as this one, but your father's an old friend of mine."

At the mention of his father, Jake visibly sagged. Stealing had seemed like such a harmless way to get by that he'd never stopped to consider what his parents might think. He'd never really been in it for the money after all, just the buzz that came from escaping the law afterwards. Now that he was in a dungeon awaiting trial however, it suddenly seemed much less fun. "I know I messed up bad," he said quietly. "What do you think my chances are?"

"Well, lucky for you, your father will vouch for you," Jasper told him. "He and your mother have already made sure that everyone you stole from has been reimbursed. Still, it would go a lot better if you were prepared to give evidence on your accomplices…"

"Hey, I ain't no snitch!" Jake replied angrily. "Besides, I was the leader, so I'm the responsible one."

Jasper shook his head with a sigh, lightly scratching at the floor with a taloned foot. "Heck of a strange time to grow a sense of responsibility, my boy. There's not really much in the way of mitigation, you sure you don't want to plead guilty?"

"Yes I'm sure!" Jake's voice was certain. "Look, I never meant for things to get this bad, okay? It was just a couple of bikes here and there, ones that weren't even locked up or nothing! The owners couldn't have wanted them THAT bad…"

"And the purses?" Jasper asked sceptically, head quirked to one side.

Jake looked away, shifting from one foot to the other. "…that was Tiffany's idea…" he said eventually. "But it's not like they kept much besides pennies and cough drops in those. I didn't think it was wrong, we were just having fun…"

"Well 'fun' is going to land you with a ten-year stint in a dungeon," the raven stated flatly. "If that's all you've got, I really do recommend you change your mind about your plea."

"I'm not pleading guilty!" Jake repeated indignantly. "That'll just make things worse for my folks, if I just outright say I know I did wrong!"

"And that's worse than them having to sit through you being put on trial and found guilty anyway? Because that is exactly what's going to happen. In about…" Poking his beak into his waistcoat pocket, Jasper deftly flicked out a silver fob watch on a chain and caught it in one wing. "Two, three hours at most?" he continued as he looked at the time. "Because I might be a good lawyer, but the best darn attorney in all of Ooo won't be able to change the fact that you're guilty as sin."

"Been trying to tell him that for days." The unfamiliar voice made the raven look round sharply to see a large worm poking its head out of the viola. "Jake's pretty pigheaded when he thinks he's right about something. And… uh… stop looking at me like that." Shelby certainly didn't like the appraising look he was getting from the lawyer, or the way it was accompanied by a snap of Jasper's beak. "Okay, you're kinda scary. Jake, you're on your own." With that, the worm pulled himself back inside the instrument and didn't emerge again.

Blinking as the tempting morsel vanished; Jasper gave a short, embarrassed cough. "Uh… where was I? Oh yes. If you plead guilty now there won't be a trial, it'll skip straight to sentencing."

"Wait, what?" Jake stared at the raven in disbelief. "I thought I had to get a trial anyway? What the fudge am I in the dungeon for?"

Jasper stared back at the dog steadily until he was sure that Jake wasn't bluffing, and then sighed heavily. "You're in the dungeon awaiting trial because you pleaded not guilty. This would never have gone to trial if you'd pled guilty from the beginning. Exactly what part of that aren't you grasping?"

"Pretty much the core concept," Jake replied defensively. "I thought that pleading not guilty meant that I did it but I totally had a good reason? I didn't know it was wrong!"

"Oh good Glob," the raven sighed. "Your father never told me you were stupid…"

"Hey!"

o.o.o.o.o

The murmuring in the courtroom slowly died down as the prisoner was escorted to the defendant's table by a pair of Banana Guards. The Grand High Judge, a diminutive old creature of indeterminate species, banged his gavel down anyway.

"Order! Order in the court!" The wizened old man was almost entirely concealed by his powdered wig, though it was a matter of some debate whether it was in fact a wig, or part of him, or if the judge himself was actually an extension of the wig rather than vice versa. The ensuing silence was broken by hushed murmurs as Jasper O'Malley stalked over to perch beside him with slow, stately steps.

"That's Jasper O'Malley," Turtle Princess whispered to the other princesses of the jury.

"The Legal Eagle?" Slime Princess muttered back. "But he's a raven…"

"It's just a nickname," Princess Bubblegum explained quietly, then fell silent as the Grand High Judge's baleful gaze turned in their direction. Over at the prosecution table the opposing lawyer, a nervous-looking Rock Man, was surreptitiously polishing a silver pen. He hoped that the rumours about being able to break O'Malley's concentration with a shiny object were true.

"Court is now in session," the Grand High Judge announced. "Counsel for the defence, your opening statement."

Hopping down from his perch, Jasper took a few steps forward to stand before the judge. "Your honour, Princesses of the jury, my esteemed colleague on the prosecution." He paused for effect, knowing that they'd all be expecting him to launch into a long speech with the incisive wit he was famous for. They were going to be sorely disappointed. "If it please the court, my client would like to change his plea to guilty."

The court's response was immediate chaos.

o.o.o.o.o

"Well this was a complete waste of time," Bubblegum grumbled as she threw herself back into her chair in the jury chamber. "I'm tempted to vote for having him thrown in the dungeon anyway just for that."

"Same here," Slime Princess agreed. "It's not even like the mitigation arguments were that convincing."

"But all the people he stole from have been reimbursed," Wildberry Princess pointed out. "Since we're voting on the sentence we should take that into consideration." Bear Princess grunted an agreement, slapping a platelike paw down on the table.

"Are you guys honestly saying you believed him when he said he didn't know stealing was wrong?" Bubblegum asked acerbically. "Given that we're talking about the son of Joshua the Dog, I'm not really convinced of that."

"Well…" Turtle Princess began doubtfully. "It's not like he stole anything really valuable… like the gems in our crowns or the Baker's Shard or anything like that. And his father did say he'd make sure he stays on the straight and narrow."

"Let's look at the sentencing options then," Slime Princess said, clearly just wanting to get the whole thing over with. "Imprisonment in the dungeon of our choice, hard labour, house arrest, community service, or a stern warning."

Bear Princess gave a short, gruff harrumphing noise, and Slime Princess shook her head with an exasperated sigh. "You're such a soft touch."

o.o.o.o.o

Crouching together inside the large hollow stump, Flame Princess and Finn were covering their mouths to stifle their giggles as they listened to Jermaine crashing around the woods looking for them. There was no visible way inside the stump from the outside, Flame Princess had helped Finn scale it by flying behind him and tugging at his backpack, then they'd both jumped down into the hollow at the centre. The rotting wood was damp and mossy, so it would be difficult for Flame Princess to accidentally ignite it; it wasn't even smoking at her touch.

"He is never gonna find us," Finn whispered as Jermaine's footsteps slowly faded away. "This hiding place is totally math, I'm glad you found it."

"I'm glad it's not Lady Rainicorn who's being the Cloud," Flame Princess whispered back. "She'd have seen us from above. Cautiously hovering up to the top of the stump, she peeked over it to see if she could spot either of them, but all she could see were more trees.

"I wish I could fly," Finn's voice was envious as the fire girl floated back down. "Being a human's kinda lame."

"But you're the only human," Flame Princess pointed out. "That's pretty awesome."

The boy rubbed at the back of his head awkwardly, blushing. "You really think so?" he asked bashfully.

Before Flame Princess could reply, she froze as she saw two tan creepers come sliding over the top of the stump like snakes. She squealed in surprise in the same instant as they both wound tightly around Finn and hauled him out like a hooked fish as the human boy gave a yell of shock. Launching herself into the air, Flame Princess shot out of the stump and looked down to see… a dog that looked just like Jermaine swinging Finn through the air with arms that were impossibly long and rubbery. And Finn was now laughing instead of yelling.

"Ha! You might fool Jermaine, but you can't hide from old Jakey!" the stretchy dog chuckled, setting Finn down next to him as he glanced towards Flame Princess. "Hey, is this your little girlfriend or something?" Ignoring the question, the boy immediately seized Jake in a tight hug, chattering at him excitedly.

"Jake! Are you coming home now? Are you grounded? Did Dad spank you? What did you do that was so naughty? Can we go adventure now?" The questions came barrelling out of Finn like rapid-fire ammunition as he clung to his brother, overjoyed to see him again. Feeling somewhat out of place now, Flame Princess landed next to them as Jermaine came through the trees, followed by another two dogs that looked older, both wearing hats.

"Good, you found your brother," the dog with the grey hat said, sounding stern. "And that's quite enough tomfoolery from you, Jacob Theodore The Dog, you are going straight to your room when we get home! You got off lightly with community service, if you'd been thrown in a dungeon then…"

"Joshua," his wife interrupted, putting a hand on his arm as she glanced meaningfully at Finn. "This isn't a topic for children."

"Oh. Yes." Clearing his throat awkwardly, Joshua was about to say something when his gaze fell on Flame Princess and his eyes widened. "My word, why is there a princess with you, Finnegan?"

"A princess?" Jake said incredulously, looking down at his little brother. "Good work there kiddo." Finn looked back at him blankly, utterly bewildered.

"This is Flame Princess, we were playing Cloud Hunt with Jermaine and Lady Rainicorn," the boy explained.

"And I could have told you that if you'd just freaking asked..." Jermaine muttered. "Also I better go find Lady, she's probably still hiding..."

_[No, I'm here!]_ There was a rustle of leaves above them, and then Lady Rainicorn dropped out of one of the trees, her muted colours returning to their normal brightness. She'd had reservations about letting Flame Princess hide with the strange human boy so she'd kept close to keep an eye on them, planning to move to an easier hiding place once they'd been found by Jermaine. She didn't think it was a good idea to admit to that though.

Unlike Jermaine, Joshua and Margaret didn't react badly, though there was a certain wariness in Margaret's eyes as her gaze flicked from the rainicorn to Finn and back again. Jake just stared, never having seen one before.

"You're really pretty." The words came out before Jake could stop them, he hadn't even realised that he'd spoken them aloud until he noticed that everyone was staring at him. "I mean... uhh... Rainbows are really pretty! I thought you were a rainbow!" he said hurriedly. "With legs."

"Well, it's a long way back home and we'd better get started if we want to get back before dark," Joshua announced quickly, before his errant son could embarrass him any further. "Say goodbye, Finn."

"Oh." Finn's voice was disappointed as he turned towards Flame Princess. "Uhm... Goodbye I guess. Maybe I'll come visit you in the Candy Kingdom if you still live there when I'm older?"

"I'd like that," the fire girl replied shyly. "Of course I'll still live there, why wouldn't I?"

Before Finn could reply, he'd been picked up by Jermaine and set onto Jake's back, the magic dog now on all-fours. "Guess I'm on Finn carrying duty then," Jake remarked, as his parents made polite goodbyes to Lady Rainicorn and Flame Princess.

"You better believe it, bro," Jermaine replied. "From now until I decide you've worked it off."

Finn turned and waved to Flame Princess as Jake trotted homewards, with Jermaine and their parents following. The fire girl waved back until he lost sight of her in the trees, then they were out in the Bad Lands. For most people in Ooo, this would have been an extremely dangerous route, but nothing and no one in their right mind would be willing to tangle with Joshua the Dog.

"That little girl was Princess Bubblegum's elemental daughter," Margaret commented as they made their way across the sand. "I hope you were polite to her, Finn."

"I liked her," the boy replied. "She's adopted, isn't she?"

Margaret's response was a scandalized gasp. "Finnegan Human the Dog, you'd better not have asked her that!" she exclaimed. "You can't just ask people if they're adopted!"

"But I'm adopted!" Finn wailed, upset by the implication that this was a bad thing. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"No, no, of course not sweetie," Margaret said hurriedly. "There's nothing wrong with it at all... it's just not polite to ask."

Joshua snorted, shooting a sharp look towards Jake. "And the only reason you found out so early is because your brother Jake told you and boy did he get a spanking for that..."

"Well he's the one who asked where babies come from," Jake groused to himself. "You totally did find him under a leaf. Or stuck to one. Whatever..."

o.o.o.o.o

Like Finn, Flame Princess waved until she couldn't see the human boy any more. Beside her, Lady Rainicorn was gazing in the direction the dogs had gone with a pensive look on her face. For a dog, Jake had been very handsome, though Flame Princess would be too young to understand of course. Snapping out of her reverie, she looked down at the fire girl with a somewhat distracted smile.

_[We'd better go find your mother, come on,]_ she said gently. _[Time for us to go home too.]_

"Okay Lady," Flame Princess replied, rising off the ground to hover beside the rainicorn and following her back to the hall. "That was fun. I hope I see him again..."

* * *

**A/N: **Well, hopefully that wasn't too anticlimactic for everyone. :P Finn actually won't find out about Jake's criminal past until the 'Apple Thief' episode of the show, so he shall remain blissfully ignorant until then. On the other hand, Flame Princess should be working out that she's adopted in about, oh, next chapter?

SCIK1012: Queen Elinor from 'Brave' was totally an influence for Bear Princess, lol. But Bear Princess lacks her grace and poise, and is not nearly as well-groomed.

I Am The7: It's not just you, I totally got that vibe as well. I just couldn't find a Romeo and Juliet reference that worked...


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer:** Adventure Time belongs to Pendleton Ward/Cartoon Network. Thanks to Rinney and Anna for proof-reading.

* * *

Quietly opening the door to the library, Flame Princess slipped around it and closed it behind her. There was no real need for her to be so secretive, she was allowed in the library as long as she wore protective gloves, which she was, and didn't start any fires. But somehow she still felt strangely guilty about what she was doing.

The fire girl didn't turn the lights on. She provided more than enough illumination by herself, and she didn't want anyone to notice she was in here. The library was a large, circular room completely lined with bookshelves, rows of reading desks taking up the space in the centre. Most of the shelves were full, although there were large gaps in places where her mother had taken books to her lab or bedroom for reading. But Flame Princess wasn't looking for anything scientific.

The books were arranged by topic, and she hovered silently over to the history and geography section, looking over the titles. Immediately, a large book titled 'Peoples of Ooo' sprang out at her as relevant to her purposes, and she carefully lifted it down from the shelf and over to the reading table furthest from the door.

Although the book looked old, leather-bound with thick parchment pages, Flame Princess knew it wasn't nearly as old as the pre-Mushroom War books. The latter were flimsy things with paper covers; her mother only owned a few of them as they tended to disintegrate with age or fall apart when read. This one was far sturdier, an embossed stamp on the cover showing that it had come from the Library Kingdom's press, but Flame Princess opened it carefully all the same.

Learning to read had been something of a trial for both Flame Princess and Princess Bubblegum. Although the fire girl had learned to recognise letters and words quite quickly, she'd also accidentally ignited more than a few of the books her mother had used to teach her. Bubblegum had refused to give up, adamant that reading was extremely important, and had eventually made Flame Princess a pair of heat-containing gloves like the ones she'd had as a toddler before she'd learned to stop burning things by touch. They made her hands itch and tingle uncomfortably, but at the same time they allowed her to handle books and other flammable items without setting them ablaze.

Inside the front cover was the book's full title, 'Peoples of Ooo: A History and Chronicle', and it had been written by someone called Tobias Hobart. Turning to the contents page, Flame Princess saw that it was ordered by kingdom, and ran one finger down the list until she reached 'The Fire Kingdom'. Taking a deep breath, she turned to that page, still with the uneasy feeling that maybe she should ask her mother about this. But just because she was a fire elemental, that surely didn't mean she was from the Fire Kingdom, did it? After all, she knew there were rock and earth elementals living in the Cotton Candy Forest rather than the Rock Kingdom or Earth Kingdom.

_The Fire Kingdom is located deep beneath the surface of Ooo, mostly within the planet's asthenosphere though certain areas reach deep into the mantle. It is extremely inhospitable for most forms of life on Ooo, with the exception of its native fire elementals and creatures, Rock People and most forms of Gem People that have a Mohs hardness of over seven..._

With a grunt of irritation, Flame Princess flicked the page over, wanting to know more about the people than the place. The text droned on for a while about the kingdom's tempestuous history, where the succession law appeared to be based on knives in the back and water to the face if the list of monarchs was anything to go by, but as she turned the page again, she froze in shock.

The next page was taken up by a colour illustration of a view towards the Fire Kingdom throne room, though it was really a throne cavern. And... she remembered it? No, that couldn't be right, she'd never been there, but there was something about the sweep of the stone causeway and the jagged rock throne that seemed so familiar, and reminded her of laughter. Not hers, or her mother's, but deep, booming laughter.

Unsettled, Flame Princess turned the page again, and blinked in surprise. This page had illustrations of the Fire Kingdom inhabitants, male and female, young and old. And the picture of the girl looked like her. It obviously wasn't, the hair and face were different, but the colour of her skin and hair were similar. Looking down at the text below the pictures, she read it slowly.

_Due to their dangerous physical nature, Fire People or fire elementals are only found in the Fire Kingdom. Unlike other elementals, they present a danger to most other races of Ooo and have little interest in the world above. All they require to survive and thrive can be found below the surface of the earth, indeed, for a weak young fire elemental, being left on the surface is a veritable death sentence. It is also the method of choice for disposing of unwanted children, as the Fire Kingdom is a harsh and cruel place where weakness is not tolerated, but neither is excessive strength. Fire Kingdom society is paranoid at best, and a prudent Fire Person will dispose of potential rivals before they can become actual rivals regardless of whether they are family..._

Flame Princess slammed the book shut and snatched her hand away from it as if it was made of ice, breathing heavily. So Fire People did live in the Fire Kingdom after all, but maybe she was an exception? After all, if Princess Bubblegum was her mother, she was only half Fire Person… but then again, she didn't look like she was half Candy Person. She looked like she was entirely Fire Person.

_"But you're made of fire." Finn sounded as bewildered as Flame Princess felt. "So aren't you supposed to live in the Fire Kingdom with the other fire people?"_

The fire girl stared at the cover of the book for a few moments longer, then turned and ran out of the library, leaving it on the desk.

o.o.o.o.o

"Okay, let's try the next formula." Wearing her lab coat and protective glasses, Princess Bubblegum had started the earliest stage of testing for her decorpsinator serum. She'd synthetized six different formulas using slightly different algorithms to take the vagaries of decomposition into account, and on the workbench in front of her were six beakers containing a suspension of glucose and dead candy skin cells.

Or at least, there HAD been six beakers in front of her, now there were fragments of glass in place of the first where the reaction from that formula had been so violent it had made the beaker explode. The second beaker was black and smoking; it had caught fire and burned with an angry red flame until its contents had evaporated. The third had absolutely nothing wrong with it… but there had also been absolutely no reaction whatsoever. Now she was on to the fourth.

Science had been perched on the workbench to begin with, watching the process with interest. However, since the first beaker had exploded, the rat had retreated to the relative safety of Bubblegum's shoulder, hiding under her hair with only her nose and eyes poking out as her whiskers twitched at the lingering smell of smoke. She watched as Bubblegum picked up the next test tube from the rack and moved it over the next beaker, tensing as it slowly began to tip.

"Mom?" Bubblegum had been so absorbed in her work that she hadn't heard the door open or Flame Princess' footsteps. "Can I talk to you?"

"Can it wait?" the candy princess asked distractedly, not looking away from what she was doing. "The formulas will degrade if I leave them too long and…" As she was talking, Bubblegum finally registered the tone of the fire girl's voice, and glanced towards her. One look at Flame Princess' expression was enough to both stop her mid-sentence and persuade her that testing could wait, and she set the test tube back on the rack. "Feuer, what's wrong?" Taking Science off her shoulder, Bubblegum set the rat down on the workbench where the rodent eyed the beakers suspiciously, then went to her daughter.

Flame Princess' gaze was fixed on the floor, her eyes stinging as she blinked back tears. As Princess Bubblegum knelt in front of her to be at the same level as the seven year-old, she reached out to cup her face in her hands, raising her chin gently. "I need to ask you something," Flame Princess said quietly, though she could feel a lump starting to form in her throat at the thought of what the answer might be. "Are you really my mom?"

Bubblegum had known that question would be coming for years, had thought she'd be ready for it, but now that it had been asked she found that she wished it hadn't. But she had always told herself that when Flame Princess was old enough to ask that question, she was old enough to know the truth. "Feuer…" she began hesitantly. "I love you very much; I want you to remember that." She took a deep breath that came out as a long, heartfelt sigh. "But I… I'm not your real mother."

Even though she'd been expecting that answer, Flame Princess felt something inside her shatter in response. Closing her eyes tightly, she made a small, high-pitched whine that sounded like a muffled cry of pain, tears starting to streak down her face.

"Oh Feuer…" Bubblegum's voice sounded just as pained, the candy princess automatically raising her thumbs to brush away the girl's tears, only to recoil with a stifled hiss of pain as her skin was scorched by liquid fire. "Don't move," she ordered, then ran to the desk where she kept her protective gloves and apron and pulled them on. When she turned around again, Flame Princess was sitting on the floor of the lab with her arms wrapped around herself, and Bubblegum simply leaned down to pick her up and hold her close. The fire girl was much heavier now than she'd been as a toddler, but the candy princess was a lot stronger than her appearance suggested.

"It's okay Feuer, it doesn't matter to me," Bubblegum told her gently. "I love you just as much as I would if I was your real mother. It doesn't change anything." Walking over to a low bench, the candy princess sat down but didn't let the fire girl go, one gloved hand stroking through her fiery hair comfortingly.

"But…" Flame Princess had to swallow down a hiccupping sob before she could continue, burying her face in Bubblegum's apron. "But what happened to my parents? Did they die? Didn't they want me?" She wasn't quite sure which of those options was worse. "Did I come from the Fire Kingdom?"

"Yes, you came from the Fire Kingdom," the candy princess replied, glad that question had been an easy one. The others were harder; there was no easy way to tell a young girl that yes, her own father had wanted to get rid of her. "I don't know about your real mother, but your father…" Bubblegum's face twisted into a dark scowl that luckily the girl couldn't see. "Your father… didn't have time for you. So I took you instead." Okay, so maybe she had sugar-coated that, quite a lot, but Bubblegum still didn't feel quite up to telling the fire girl that her father had wanted her left on the surface to die.

"But my mother could still be alive?" the little elemental asked, raising her head slightly.

"I don't know," Bubblegum admitted, honestly. She'd never been able to find out much about Flame King's wife, beyond that the relationship between the two was distant at best, resentful at worse. From what little she knew, it had been a marriage of convenience, and they were rarely seen together. She would probably have known more if the Fire Kingdom had been slightly more hospitable, but as it was even Lumpy Space Princess didn't want to go there for gossip. It was certainly possible that Flame Princess' mother was still alive, but if she was…

"If she was alive then she could have found me…" Flame Princess said exactly what Bubblegum was thinking. "Everyone knows I'm here with you. But she never did so she must be dead or she didn't have time for me either…" The girl's voice faded into another sob, and Bubblegum rocked her gently against her chest.

"It doesn't make any difference to me," the candy princess told her softly. "You're still my daughter, and I love you no matter what."

"But why didn't my parents want me?" Flame Princess sniffled, rubbing at her eyes with the back of her hand. "Is there something wrong with me?"

"No!" Bubblegum hadn't meant for the word to come out as an indignant shout, but it did. "No," she repeated, more quietly, pushing the girl back a little so that she could look her in the eyes. "Feuer, there is absolutely nothing wrong with you, and don't ever think that. If there is a problem then it's with your father and maybe your mother if she's still alive. But not you. Never you." Clasping the girl against herself, Bubblegum paused, then took a deep breath and went on.

"Not having proper parents doesn't make you any less Feuer," Bubblegum continued. "You're still just as special as you've always been. And you're not the only one to not have parents either, I have a… a friend whose mother died when she was very small." Brittleness had crept into the princess' voice now, but Bubblegum wasn't even aware of it, and Flame Princess didn't notice. "And her father just left her, all alone, in a very scary place. She could have died, but another person found her, and raised her, and she grew up into a wonderful person just like you'll be one day. Not having parents didn't make any difference to her, and it won't make any difference to you."

Flame Princess' sniffles were slowly fading now, and she leaned her head against Bubblegum's shoulder. Maybe the candy princess was right; she'd always been happy here with her and she'd never really cared about not having a father since nobody had ever seemed to think that was a problem. Would she have been happier with her parents? She tried to imagine that, but every time she tried to picture her real mother she just saw Bubblegum instead. And she couldn't imagine things being any different. "Can I still call you Mom?" she asked eventually.

"Of course you can, sweetheart," Bubblegum replied, hugging the fire girl tightly. "You're still my daughter as far as I'm concerned."

* * *

**A/N: **Since the Trial of the Century-y-y-y-y-y was such an anticlimax, have a dramabomb! Flame Princess really didn't know she was adopted until now. Maybe being made of fire should have been a giveaway but hey, everyone looks different in the Candy Kingdom.

And now, some answers!

StrikerXE: 'Legal eagle' is also an American slang term for a skilled, clever lawyer. And Choose Goose can speak in rhyme, let's see a lawyer do that!

Ooobserver: AWKWARD TEENAGE ROMANCE, HOOOOOOOO!

Guest #1: Actually they met OUTSIDE the courtroom where Jake was convicted of thievery, so it's completely different. Honest.

Guest #2: Well, Finn's first adventure probably involved him and Jake falling into a pit of lemmings or something when Jake was a pup and Finn was a buff baby that can dance like a man. Jermaine probably had to haul them both out.

SCIK1012: This fic will catch up with the events of the show, but some things will happen a bit differently. For example, in 'Go With Me' Finn will not be trying to persuade PB to go to Couple's Movie Night with him, he'll be trying to persuade PB to let him take Flame Princess to Couple's Movie Night. PB does not think it sounds like a suitable activity for a young princess.


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer:** Adventure Time belongs to Pendleton Ward/Cartoon Network. Thanks to Rinney and Anna for proof reading.

* * *

"Take a deep breath and channel the heat out through your hair." Princess Bubblegum was sitting cross-legged on the balcony of her bedroom, with Flame Princess facing her. "You're a furnace, not a fire. You control the heat. It doesn't control you."

Inhaling slowly, Flame Princess closed her eyes and concentrated, visualising the heat currents flowing through her body in her mind's eye. _Heat rises,_ she thought to herself, imagining the currents all flowing upwards to where her hair burned brightly.

Bubblegum watched as the girl's hair flared and brightened, lightening from its usual fiery red to a luminous orange as her feet and hands dimmed slightly. Opening her eyes, Flame Princess reached out to pick up the crumpled ball of paper in front of her, one of the failed formulas for the decorpsinator serum, and held it between her palms. It didn't ignite, or even singe at her touch, and Bubblegum smiled at her with maternal pride.

"Well done, Feuer. Do you want to try the candle now?" she asked, pushing a wax taper across the tiled floor towards Flame Princess. The girl was getting better and better at her control exercises, the constant use and manipulation of her combustion levels bringing a level of stability to her elemental matrix that she would never have achieved if Bubblegum had insisted on her keeping her powers contained.

"Okay, I'll try." Picking the candle up in her left hand, Flame Princess held it carefully in front of her at a short distance from her body. She felt the wax soften slightly at her touch, but it didn't melt or distort.

"Very good," Bubblegum said warmly, getting a nervous smile from the fire girl in response. "Do you think you can light it with your other hand?"

Keeping one hand cool while heating the other had been impossible for Flame Princess so far; she'd tried it a few times and inevitably ended up destroying whatever she was holding in the process. But she could see the look of confident pride on her mother's face, which encouraged her to make another attempt.

Closing her eyes again, Flame Princess returned to the mental image of her heat currents, all still flowing upwards away from her limbs. Focusing on the elemental core at her centre, the source of her combustion, she imagined a single thread of fire trailing upwards towards her hair, then twisting to one side to run down her arm instead and pool in the tip of her index finger. For a moment her concentration faltered, her combustion levels threatening to break free of the careful channels she had focused them into. Normally at this point she would have panicked and lost control, but this time she kept her focus, not wanting to disappoint her mother.

Cracking one eye open, the fire girl saw that the candle in her left hand was still intact, and the index finger of her right was glowing brightly. Cautiously touching it to the candle wick, Flame Princess laughed as it ignited, burning with a bright, clear flame. Drawing her right hand back, the fire girl focused on it again, imagining the thread of heat within re-joining the main current, and within a few moments her finger had dimmed again.

"That was excellent, Feuer," her mother told her, eyes bright with both the reflected candle flame and warm affection that made the fire girl shift position bashfully. "I think that's enough for tonight, but you are doing really, really well with this, I'm very proud of you."

"Thanks Mom," Flame Princess replied, pouring a few drops of wax on the floor of the balcony, and then setting the candle in it. Six months had passed since the fire girl had found out about her true parentage, but just as Princess Bubblegum had assured her, nothing had changed. Her eighth birthday hadn't been any different to her sixth or seventh, marked with the same celebrations that befitted the daughter of the Candy Kingdom's ruler. Flame Princess had supposed that the Candy People must know about her origins, but like her mother they didn't care. If their princess said that the fire girl was her daughter, they accepted it without question.

Getting to her feet, Princess Bubblegum held out a hand to help her daughter up, noting that her touch was only slightly warmer than her own. "Come with me, I've got something to show you." Taking the fire girl inside, Bubblegum led her through the castle corridors to one of the towers near her lab, which had previously been used as a storeroom. "This was supposed to be ready for your birthday, but I couldn't get the heat-proofing finished in time."

As her mother opened the door, Flame Princess followed her inside and halted in surprise. Unlike the normal pink and pastel décor of the castle's rooms, this one was entirely tiled from floor to ceiling with dark terracotta tiles that felt cool against her feet. The scorched metal target she used for fireball practice had been set up on one side of the room, on the other was a squat, square shape which had a central hole that glowed a bright, magma yellow.

"This room is completely fireproof," Bubblegum explained as she went over to the glass furnace; the same one she'd built years ago. "You can burn as hot as you like in here; it's good for you to let off heat once in a while instead of always keeping it in check. Now that you're older, I thought it would be good for you to have a place where you could practice using your powers without having to worry about burning anything or anyone."

That much was true, even though Flame Princess hadn't burned anyone in years, accidentally or otherwise, the concern did lurk at the back of her mind. "So… is this like a lab or something?" the fire girl asked, looking around herself curiously. It reminded her of the test chamber her mother used to gauge her heat levels but there was no observation window here.

"More like a workshop," Bubblegum replied. "Or a practice room. I know you can keep your combustion levels under control, you've proved that more than once, but you should also learn what else you can do with them. They're dangerous, yes, but that doesn't mean they can't be useful or special. That's what this is for," she added, tapping the furnace with one foot.

"What is it?" Flame Princess asked, looking at the machine curiously. She could feel the heat beating out from the glowing opening, but to her it wasn't oppressive; it felt like a fresh mountain breeze would have done to the candy princess.

"It's a glass furnace," Bubblegum explained. "It melts down glass for glass working. I did think about installing a forge in here but that wouldn't be safe for you, there's too much water and steam involved with metalworking. Maybe when you're older, but for now glass should be good practice for you. Remember when you used to try modelling with caramel?" Bubblegum couldn't help a smile at the thought. "You'll be able to do that with glass; it doesn't burn but the viscosity changes depending on how hot it is."

Reaching into the furnace opening as casually as if it was full of sugar, Flame Princess felt her hand plunge into something soft and liquid that felt strangely yielding. The heat was immense, but to the fire girl it felt comforting and familiar. Scooping out a handful of the strange fluid, she pulled her hand back out to find she was holding a clear liquid that ran between her fingers like thick honey and glowed bright sunshine yellow.

As her hands were still relatively cool, the glass slowly began to darken and solidify in Flame Princess' grasp. Moving it from one hand to the other she carefully shaped it into a ball, rolling it between her palms as it grew harder. "This stuff is awesome!" the fire girl exclaimed, the glass sphere slowly solidifying as it cooled. Stretching it out into a cylinder, Flame Princess twisted it into a spiral then melted it back down to liquid in her hands.

"There's lots of ways to work it," Bubblegum told her. "Glassblowing, moulding, sculpting, fusing, caning, it's a very versatile material. There's some books about it in the library… but I'd prefer if they stayed there since molten glass is not good for paper."

"Sure," Flame Princess agreed, pulling long threads out of the glass pooled in her palm until it resembled a flattened porcupine. Giggling, she heated her palm again and watched the spines slowly collapse. If she'd tried this with molten sugar, she'd have had a handful of cinders by now.

Pleased that the girl was happy, Bubblegum smiled. "You can colour it as well using pigments and canes. I've got more supplies and tools, but you should have a look at the books first. And you can always melt it back down if you make a mistake or it gets broken, glass can be recycled over and over."

Flame Princess had now split the handful of glass in two, and was sculpting one half into a rough, four legged shape that vaguely resembled a horse. Rolling the other into a ball, she perched the horse shape on top of it and giggled again. "Okay Mom," she said cheerfully. "This is great, thank you!"

"You're welcome, sweetheart," Bubblegum replied. "I know how much you like making things with caramel, and glass will be more versatile. And working it is a good exercise for your combustion levels as well."

Flame Princess considered that, then her expression brightened. "I could make more beakers for you in case you explode any more of them," she suggested. "That's useful, right?"

Bubblegum's laugh was only a little rueful. "It certainly would be, Feuer. At the rate I'm going through them I'll be running out soon…"

* * *

**A/N: **Well, not much happened in this chapter, but Flame Princess has definitely gotten pretty good at controlling and using her powers so it's time to move on to something a little more complex than melted sugar. And even though she knows she's adopted now, nothing has changed. D'awwwwww.

Next chapter: Hey, why is there a light on in that big tree?


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer:** Adventure Time belongs to Pendleton Ward/Cartoon Network. Thanks to Rinney and Anna for proof reading.

* * *

"Well, let's try this again," Princess Bubblegum sighed, though the only response from the rat perched on her shoulder was to tighten small claws into the fabric of her lab coat and hunker down anxiously. "Yes, I know," the candy princess went on as if she'd received a reply. "But I'm going to work this out no matter how many years it takes. If I can create life, returning it should be possible as well."

Personally, Science was starting to think she should maybe fetch a dictionary from the library and leave it open on the workbench with the word 'hubris' underlined in red pen, but all that was likely to achieve was a scolding from Bubblegum for vandalising the book. The rat would have thought that after nearly three years of on and off testing the princess might have given up on the decorpsinator serum, but apparently she was just too stubborn.

The liquid in the test tube was luminous chartreuse that seemed to glitter faintly with tiny electric sparks. As Bubblegum carefully tipped five drops into the test beaker, they hit the surface of the liquid glucose with an actinic crackle and flash. Bubblegum watched the drops settle and dissipate into the glucose like green smoke, tinting the entire beaker an acidic apple hue, but for the first few seconds nothing happened.

Then, slowly at first, the candy skin cells suspended in the thick fluid began to twitch and move as the princess held her breath in rapt anticipation. She absent-mindedly tapped the clear plastic lens across her eyes just to make sure her safety goggles were definitely still on, then leaned closer for a better look.

Pale pink flecks began to jerkily jump and drift through the glucose like brine shrimp, moving without apparent purpose or direction, but when two of them touched there was a brief spark of emerald light as they fused together. Soon the beaker held large, quivering droplets of pink biomass instead of tiny flecks, and they were still growing larger and smaller in number as they continued to merge together like liquid mercury. It wasn't until she started getting light headed that Bubblegum realised she was still holding her breath, and she let it out in a long, tense exhalation.

Within a few minutes, there was a single sphere the size of a large marble floating in the glucose, its smooth surface shivering as if it was somehow cold. Staring at it, Bubblegum felt a large, victorious grin slowly spreading across her face as she reached for her notebook and began to scribble in it with nervous haste.

"This is big, Science," she told the candycorn rat, who was now sitting on her hind legs and watching with cautious relief. "The formula animated the dead cells AND fused them together, that's even better than I expected!" The sound of a glassy chime followed by another and another snapped Bubblegum's attention from her notes back to the beaker, and as she looked at it she saw that the sphere of biomass was now bouncing against its bottom like a rubber ball, moving through the glucose as if it was water rather than a viscous fluid.

Narrowing her eyes as the sphere's movements grew more violent, Bubblegum thankfully had the presence of mind to slam a thick chemistry textbook down on top of the beaker before it could escape, which wasn't a moment too soon as the ball of biomass began to ricochet off the inside of the vessel like a bullet, making the heavy book shudder every time it was struck. Planting one hand on top of it as a precaution, Bubblegum pressed it down as the beaker started to ring like a glassy bell.

Science took the opportunity to scurry down the princess' arm, jumping off onto the workbench a safe distance from the rattling vessel. From there the rat clambered down to the floor and hid behind a rack of metal shelves, pulling her tail in behind her. Bubblegum didn't move, concerned that if she let go of the book, the ball of biomass would escape from the beaker and start bouncing around her lab just as it was doing in the beaker. There were far too many fragile things in her lab, and the princess had decided that she'd rather break some bones than some experiments. Bones healed by themselves.

Bubblegum's arm was vibrating now, the entire workbench shaking from the violence of the movement within the beaker. Then, with a final powerful jump that actually did raise the book a few centimetres despite the pressure Bubblegum was putting on it, the pink ball settled back onto the bottom of the beaker and after a few more hops it was still. The princess still waited for a few minutes before removing her hand from the book and taking a step back, blowing out the second breath she'd been unconsciously holding.

Within the beaker, the pink sphere was motionless, as if it had never moved at all. Its surface was shiny-smooth, not dented in the slightest from the repeated impacts or flattened where it sat on the base of the beaker, as geometrically perfect as a logarithmic spiral. Science poked her nose out from behind the shelves, her whiskers twitching curiously, but the rat decided to stay where she was for the moment, not trusting this strange moving orb.

"Well," Bubblegum began, her shoulders slowly relaxing. "At least it didn't-"

As if it had somehow learned comedy timing, the ball of biomass chose that moment to detonate with a muffled crack, breaking the beaker and spraying liquid glucose in all directions as the textbook crashed down onto the glass fragments.

Pinching the bridge of her nose between thumb and forefinger, Bubblegum took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Don't you say a word," she sighed as Science's nose poked out from behind the shelf. The rat couldn't talk regardless, but the expression on Science's face made her opinion crystal clear. The princess ignored her in any case, gingerly lifting the textbook to release a small puff of pink mist that evaporated into the air. "I really wish I knew why they keep exploding..."

o.o.o.o.o

The target made a dull, metallic clang as the fireball struck its edge, rocking slightly at the impact but not moving any further.

"Ah, globbit!" Flame Princess cursed, and concentrated again. A burst of fire licked out from her left palm and she immediately caught it between her hands, heating and moulding it until she held a ball of semi-solid flame. Drawing it back in her right hand, she hurled it at the target again, this time striking closer to the centre but still not enough to make the target spin on its axis like a bullseye would.

Cupping her left hand, the fire girl allowed it to fill with liquid flame, then threw a rapid barrage of smaller fireballs at the target. If it had been outside or elsewhere in the castle then it would have been far too dangerous for her to try something like this, but in her practice room any stray fireballs that struck the walls broke apart harmlessly against the heatproof tiles instead of starting fires. The metal disc jolted and shook at the repeated impacts, but she still couldn't quite hit the copper circle at its centre.

Momentarily running out of energy, Flame Princess glared at the target as she got her breath back. "Ugh. Stupid thing." Creating another ball of flame, the fire girl flung it at the target with a grunt, but the effort was half-hearted and the fireball didn't even reach its destination. Instead it bounced off the tiled floor a few feet from the base of the target, once, twice, then extinguished.

"Try a different shape," her mother's voice said from behind her. Flame Princess turned to see her standing in the doorway, carrying what was left of a glass beaker. "Like a disc or something that's more aerodynamic."

"A disc?" the young elemental asked doubtfully. But she'd learned to trust Bubblegum's wisdom, so Flame Princess created another ball of flame between her hands. This time however she squashed and rolled it between her palms, turning it into a convex disc. "Like this?"

"Just like that, yes," Bubblegum told her encouragingly. "Hold it by the edge, then aim and throw horizontally. Try a couple of swings first to see what it feels like, it's different from an over- or underarm throw but it'll be more accurate."

Doing as she was instructed, Flame Princess grasped the disc firmly and held it to one side, moving her arm back and forth like the disc was a flat stone she was going to skip across water. Drawing it back one last time, the fire girl launched it towards the target, immediately surprised by how much faster it travelled compared to the fireballs. It struck the brass middle ring, hard enough to make the beaten metal boom like a drum.

Without waiting for a reaction from her mother, Flame Princess immediately created a new disc and skimmed it at the bullseye, her aim and throw surer this time. It detonated against the copper circle at the middle of the target, not quite dead centre but close enough to make it ring like a gong and orbit the post it was mounted on several times before slowing to a standstill.

"Yes!" Flame Princess punched both fists into the air in victory. "Thanks Mom, that was way more accurate."

"Just don't wear yourself out," Bubblegum cautioned, dropping the broken glass into a metal bin that sat by the furnace. It was already half full, mostly from laboratory glassware. "Remember to take a break and eat something."

"I know," the fire girl replied, wandering over to the workbench by the furnace and picking up one of the sticks of firewood that Peppermint Butler had left for her earlier. It ignited immediately, glowing bright amber as it burned away in her grasp. "Eeesh, I must have been at that longer than I thought…" Flame Princess muttered, flicking ash from her fingers before picking up another chunk of wood. "Was that another beaker?"

"Yes," Bubblegum sighed. "The third one this week. I can't seem to find any balance between the serum either doing nothing, or exploding. I'm going to call it a day; I don't want to miss the meteor shower later."

"Is that tonight?" Flame Princess asked, brightening. She'd always enjoyed stargazing with her mother, especially when the candy princess had explained that stars were just suns that were much farther away, balls of plasma permanently burning in space without any need of oxygen and providing their own fuel. And they made patterns in the sky that told stories, even if they didn't look anything like what they were supposed to.

Despite the sting of recent and repeated failure, Bubblegum couldn't help a smile at the girl's enthusiasm. "Yes, if my calculations and star charts are correct, it should start around nine pm," she said. "The best view will be from the eastern tower, the sky will be darker on that side. You're welcome to join me if you want to watch it."

"Yeah!" There was no hesitation in the young elemental's reply, only enthusiasm. "Do you think any of them will hit the ground? Can we go looking for tektites and meteoric iron if they do?"

"If they do, then yes, we can take a day to go and look at the impact site." The fact that Flame Princess had an interest in what most candy people would have labelled 'science junk' and immediately forgotten was something that Bubblegum often wondered about. She wasn't sure whether the girl had picked that up from her, or if it was something she'd developed by herself. "It should certainly be educational."

o.o.o.o.o

The night sky was a deep, rich blue-black with only a few shreds of clouds drifting across it and no orbital debris in sight. The moon was barely a sliver of silver white light, curved like a sine wave… or a fang. Blinking that thought away with a snort of irritation, Bubblegum adjusted the telescope on its tripod instead.

Flame Princess was perched on the parapet of the tower's flat roof. If the girl hadn't been able to fly then Bubblegum would never have let her balance there, but since she could then she was in no real danger. The fire girl was looking upwards with rapt attention, waiting for the first meteor, and immediately sprang to her feet and into the air as she saw the first streak of white fire score across the dark sky, blazing for a brief moment then fading away. "There! I saw one!"

Although Bubblegum had meant to view the shower through the telescope, she found that she was watching Flame Princess more, smiling fondly as the girl gazed up into the sky, pointing with an excited gasp or exclamation every time she saw another meteor blaze across the heavens. She made a few cursory notes on range and trajectory, enough to calculate the possible dates and times of future showers, but that was all. The night sky really was beautiful when she looked at it without wondering how long they had until the sun went nova, or what would happen if one of those not-so-distant stars collapsed into a black hole.

An hour later, fifteen minutes after the last meteor had carved its trail across the sky, Flame Princess sank back to the tower as she realised the shower was over. As she turned towards her mother however, something caught the corner of her eye out on the Grass Lands to the east. A bright yellow light, tiny from the distance but still clear. The fire girl wondered if a meteor had struck there, possibly starting a fire. "Mom, look. What do you think that is?" she asked, pointing.

The candy princess had to stop herself from dropping her notebook in shock as she looked where the girl was pointing. She knew what and where it was immediately. After all, she'd spent many evenings and nights facing it, waiting for the light to flicker out, knowing that meant she'd be coming. She hadn't seen that light for nearly three hundred years now.

"Mom?" Flame Princess' voice was worried as she looked round to see the expression on Bubblegum's face. Her mother's eyes were wide, her face flushing, and her breath coming in nervous, shuddering gasps. "Is something wrong? Is it a fire?"

Blinking, Bubblegum shook her head and collected herself, feeling embarrassingly self-conscious. "No, I don't think so. But I will have to go investigate," she added quickly. "You should get to bed, Feuer, it's late."

"Can't I come?" Flame Princess asked, disappointed. "If it's a fire, I can help; I can burn fire breaks around it so it won't spread."

"It's… probably not a fire." Bubblegum replied evasively. "I think I know who- WHAT it is, I just want to make sure. It's nothing to worry about."

"Well, okay." Although the fire girl was still crestfallen by her mother's refusal to let her investigate the light with her, Flame Princess didn't argue. "But it's definitely safe?"

"It's safe," Bubblegum assured her, though not without some internal reservations on that score. "I'm not going to be long." Well, if her suspicions were correct, the candy princess didn't think she would be long at all. After all, it wasn't like their last meeting had gone very well.

* * *

**A/N: **Bubblegum might be a super-genius, but sometimes she should really take the hint about when it's a bad idea to play Glob. Also, three guesses who will be turning up in the next chapter! (hint: it's not a vampire)

Once again, thank you for all the reviews, follows and favourites, I'm really happy that people are enjoying this story and it really does motivate me to write more, you guys are great!


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer:** Adventure Time belongs to Pendleton Ward/Cartoon Network. Thanks to Rinney and Anna for proof reading.

* * *

The tree seemed to have grown even larger over the past few centuries, even though it should have died a millennium ago. The first time Princess Bubblegum had been there, nearly a thousand years earlier, it hadn't even had a door. Just an opening in the trunk covered by a blanket. Now it was much, much different; the gap in the trunk covered by a somewhat ramshackle hut that gave it a proper entrance. Chimneys stretched up from two of the tree's four tops, bridges running between two of them and the main trunk which was circled by a balcony. Windows had been built into the tree itself to let in light, and it was one of these which was illuminated with a warm golden glow. The one in what Bubblegum knew was the bedroom. She'd known that was exactly where the distant light had been coming from the moment she'd seen it from the tower.

None of the changes surprised her of course. The candy princess had seen most of them built over centuries, had even helped with some of them herself. Her fingers twitched momentarily, in memory of long-healed blisters, but Bubblegum's expression was a wistful smile. It vanished almost immediately as she took a step closer to the door then froze, already rethinking this plan.

"…I'm not the one who left…" she muttered to herself. "SHE left, not me. Maybe she doesn't even WANT to see me… I don't even know if I want to see her…" Bubblegum knew that was a lie, but she still felt better for saying it. Taking a hesitant step backwards, the princess paused again. "…but it's more mature for me to make the first move instead of sulking."

Bubblegum wavered indecisively as she looked at the door, listening hard in case she could hear any sound of movement or music from within. But there was only the soft rustle of the tree's leaves. Gritting her teeth both in anger at herself and determination, she stepped briskly forwards and rapped sharply on the door.

The sound echoed hollowly through the tree, but there was no response. Breathing out a long sigh, Bubblegum was about to turn away when she heard the creak of floorboards from higher in the tree and muffled voices. Voices? The candy princess' eyes narrowed slightly. Neither of them sounded female. And if that dingus Ash thought he could just move back in here, he had another thing coming.

Another light flashed into life behind the door's square window, and Bubblegum heard footsteps approaching it. Even though she was now ninety-nine percent sure that it wasn't Marceline – for a start, Marceline wouldn't have been walking – the princess felt her mouth go dry as the door handle clicked and turned, swinging open to reveal…

"You're that bike thief…" It was the first thing Bubblegum could think of when she saw the dog standing in the doorway.

"Who is it, Jake?" another voice asked, and the princess looked past him to see a small humanoid figure climbing down the ladder that led to the bedroom, wearing red footie pajamas and a white hood with bear ears. No, not just humanoid… human. A human boy who looked to be about the same age as Flame Princess. "Is that a princess?"

"Uhhhhh… gimme a minute, okay?" Jake replied quickly, then stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind him, facing Bubblegum. "Look, before you say anything, please don't mention the whole thief thing in front of Finn, okay? Our parents didn't want him to know his big brother was a crook."

Since the dog had recently completed his two years of community service and probation without incident, Bubblegum couldn't see any reason to object and nodded. "Okay. But what are you doing here?"

"Well, uh, we kind of decided to live here?" Jake replied, then his eyes widened. "Glob, does it belong to you or something? It didn't look like anyone had been inside for centuries; the dust was so thick…"

Bubblegum hesitated; she'd have been lying if she'd said yes. The tree had always belonged to Marceline, but then again it wasn't like she'd bought it or anything. And she hadn't lived there in at least three hundred years, hadn't wanted to come back after Ash and had found the cave instead. It felt wrong to let someone else just move in… but at the same time, it would be wrong to make the boy and the dog leave when the tree was good as abandoned.

"No… it's been empty for a long time," she said eventually. After all, if Marceline hadn't left any sign or note to say the tree belonged to her then that was her own fault. "I was just curious when I saw the light."

"Great, I was worried there," Jake chuckled in relief. "Uh, do you wanna come inside?" He opened the door again, flinching in surprise as he saw that Finn was directly behind it.

"Dude, that is totally a princess!" the boy exclaimed before either of them could say anything. "Are you kicking us out?" he asked Bubblegum, forehead creased in worry. "I told Jake we should find out if it belonged to someone…"

"No, not at all!" Bubblegum said quickly. "I just wanted to see who was living here. Your name's Finn, right? I think you met my daughter a few years ago…" That wasn't entirely true; as soon as Bubblegum had heard the name she'd remembered Flame Princess talking about meeting him. The human boy had been the first person of her own age that the girl had met, but since his adoptive parents lived so far from the Candy Kingdom they hadn't met again since.

"Your daughter… Flame Princess!" From the way Finn's expression lit up, it was clear that the human boy remembered her. "Then you're Princess Bubblegum… does that mean the Candy Kingdom's near here? I knew we were close to the Ice Kingdom and the Mystery Mountains, but we've only been here a few days so we've not explored properly yet."

"The Candy Kingdom's just over the hills to the west," the princess explained. "Actually the Grass Lands are technically part of it, but not many Candy People live here."

"Awesome! I can totally visit like I'd said I would! Uhh… if that would be okay," Finn added awkwardly, realising that he was talking to Flame Princess' mother. But before she could reply, he quickly continued. "We totally want to help people and stuff, just like our dad did."

Bubblegum considered that for a few moments; the boy was a complete stranger to her but Flame Princess had liked him. The fire girl didn't have any other friends that were the same age as her and the princess knew that would be lonely for her, even if Flame Princess wasn't aware of it herself. "That would be fine," she replied eventually. "How is your father?"

The moment she'd said those words, Bubblegum knew she'd made a mistake. Finn's delighted expression immediately crashed into anguish that the princess could see mirrored on Jake's face when she glanced towards the dog. The boy looked up at her for a few moments longer, his face quivering, but just as his eyes began to glimmer with tears he turned and fled back up the ladder to the bedroom.

Sucking in a deep breath through his teeth, Jake sighed heavily. "It's okay, you didn't know," he said before Bubblegum could speak. "It was a month ago. We don't know exactly what happened. Me, Finn and Jermaine were out looking for this dungeon that's supposed to be in the Mystery Mountains. Which is partly how we found this tree." Closing his eyes, Jake took another deep breath before going on. "When we got back, the house was burned to the ground. Mom and Dad had been inside."

"I'm so sorry," the princess said in a shocked murmur, utterly aghast. "I hadn't heard… do you have any idea who could have done it? Your father was a great hero who helped a lot of people, and they'd want to see his killer brought to justice."

Jake shook his head slowly, his eyes still closed. "Could have been an evil dragon, or a demon, or a fire elemental, or a wizard with flame powers. Dad had a lot of enemies, and there wasn't anything left behind to show who'd done it. Could have been a freaking comet strike for all we know. Jermaine took it really bad; he thought things would have been different if we'd been there, even though it would probably have ended up with us dead too. Whatever did that took out Dad, and if they could do that then we wouldn't have stood much chance."

"If there's anything I can do to help, anything at all, please tell me." The offer was completely genuine; Bubblegum was still stunned that Joshua the Dog was gone. First Billy had vanished a few years ago, now this? It sent a cold chill of foreboding down her spine, knowing what was still trapped in the centre of her castle. If the Lich ever escaped, she had no idea how they'd fight it without heroes. Maybe that was its plan.

"Well, uh, Finn wasn't joking when he said we want to help people like our dad did," Jake replied, looking a little awkward. "Well, he really does and I'm supposed to look out for him and I guess it's a good idea. So if there's anything we can do to help protect things, or monsters you need slain, or treasures you need retrieved, then ask us. It takes his mind off our parents, and the kid's actually pretty good at that kind of stuff, believe it or not."

The candy princess had some reservations there; Finn was just a boy and he couldn't be more than nine years old. But she knew that Jake had those magical stretching powers that had allowed him to evade capture for so long when he'd been a thief, and he'd obviously protect his brother. Besides, the last major threat to the Candy Kingdom had been some wandering skeletons who'd mistaken it for the Graveyard Kingdom and the Banana Guards had taken care of those without much difficulty. "Okay, I will. You're both welcome in the Candy Kingdom any time. Uhm…" She glanced upwards, uncomfortably aware of the faint, muffled sobs that were drifting through the opening that led to the bedroom.

_"I'm not leaving until you let me come up," Bubblegum said stubbornly, stamping her foot against the packed earth as she glared up at the opening above her. "I know you're there Marceline, I can hear you!" The stifled sobs were barely discernible, the other girl most likely had a pillow pressed against her face to muffle them, but that didn't fool Bubblegum._

"Will he be okay?" the candy princess asked as the memory faded. "I didn't mean to upset him."

"Yeah, I'll make him some cocoa once he's cried himself out and he'll be asleep in five minutes flat. This isn't the first time it's happened." From the look on Jake's face and the sympathetic tone of his voice, it was clear that the dog knew what he was talking about. "I think it might be harder for him 'cause looking after him sorta takes my mind off it and gives me something to focus on, but he doesn't have anything like that. That's why he wants to go out helping people and fighting monsters every day."

"I see." Bubblegum was reconsidering her earlier doubts about Finn's ability to battle monsters. From the way Jake had said that, it really did sound like something they did every day. And it wasn't something that worried the dog. "Well, I'd better get back to the Candy Kingdom, sorry for disturbing you. And if there's anything I can do for you, please let me know."

"Likewise Princess," Jake replied, with a roguish grin that reminded Bubblegum of Lady Rainicorn… because Lady had said quite a lot about him on their way back from the Royal Congressional Hall. She wondered if she should ask Jake if he'd seen her again, but decided it was best not to pry. "We might come by in a day or so once we've got this place fixed up a bit more, it's still hella dusty in here."

That much was true. A quick glance around the room was enough to tell Bubblegum that there weren't so much dust bunnies as there were dust leviathans, and thick cobwebs festooned the ceiling. She didn't want to look too closely; seeing the tree abandoned and derelict had always made her unhappy but conversely it hadn't felt right for her to keep it in order either.

"Then I look forward to seeing you." Making her goodbyes, Bubblegum stepped back outside and closed the door behind her. She heard Jake's footsteps moving away, and exhaled heavily in a long, shuddering sigh as her shoulders slumped. But maybe this was for the best; she didn't even know what she'd have said to Marceline if she'd been here. Or what the vampire might have said to her. Flame Princess would certainly be happy to see Finn again, so that was something.

Moving away from the tree, Bubblegum cupped her hands around her mouth and called for the Morrow, now just wanting to get back to the Candy Castle before she started getting nostalgic again. It was distracting.

o.o.o.o.o

"Hey buddy," Jake said gently as he climbed up the ladder carrying a mug of cocoa that would have been steaming if it hadn't been jammed full of semi-molten marshmallows. Just the way his little brother liked it. "You okay?"

A bear-capped head poked reluctantly up from the pile of furs stacked on the bed, blue eyes now red and bloodshot. Finn scrubbed at his running nose with one sleeve as he sniffled back the last of his tears but didn't raise his eyes to meet his brother's gaze. He was too humiliated.

"…the princess thinks I'm a whiny little baby now, doesn't she?" he asked hoarsely. "And she'll tell Flame Princess, and Flame Princess will think I'm a baby. I'll never be a hero like Dad was."

"Awwww Finn, don't be like that." Sitting on the side of the bed, Jake handed the boy the mug and put an arm around his shoulders comfortingly. "Princess Bubblegum was totally cool about it. She didn't know about Mom and Dad. And she said we were welcome to go visit the Candy Kingdom any time, so you can see that little girlfriend of yours again."

In the middle of chewing his way through the thick layer of marshmallow containing the cocoa, Finn choked in embarrassment and started coughing as he inhaled the beverage instead of drinking it. "Jake, that's gross!" he managed to choke out between coughs. "Flame Princess isn't my girlfriend. Okay, so she was pretty cool but she was a girl and girls are weird."

"Oh, I see," Jake replied with a mischievous smile, though his voice was casual. "Let's not bother going to the Candy Kingdom then, we could go see what's to the south instead…"

"I still wanna visit like I said!" Finn's response was immediate. "And I like her, but I don't like-like her, that junk is way too complicated. She's just a friend. If she even remembers me." He paused, rolling the mug between his hands anxiously. "You think she will?" he asked after an awkward pause.

"You remember her, right? So she should remember you," Jake told him. "Jeez, it was only two years ago. How about we spend some time cleaning this place up tomorrow, then maybe head to the Candy Kingdom the day after?"

Sinking back into his blankets, looking both extremely pleased and overwhelmingly intimidated by the prospect, Finn nodded mutely. Then yelped as he spilled hot cocoa on his chest.

* * *

**A/N: **Seriously, who didn't think it was going to be Finn and Jake? Bubblegum thought it would be Marceline of course since she knew the light in the Grass Lands was right where the Tree Fort is, but sadly she's still off riding giant goldfish or something...


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer:** Adventure Time belongs to Pendleton Ward/Cartoon Network. Thanks to Rinney and Anna for proof reading.

* * *

"How's this?" Flame Princess asked as she carefully hung the garland of summer flowers above the main door of the Grand Hall and delicately positioned the trailing strands of ivy and morning glory to cascade down either side of the arched doorway.

"That's perfect Feuer," Princess Bubblegum replied, watching from the floor below. The inhabitants of the Candy Castle were in the middle of preparations for the Summer Solstice Saturnalia taking place the following night, and the Grand Hall was currently being decorated with brightly coloured streamers and vivid floral arrangements to celebrate the first day of summer.

Fixing one last tendril of greenery into place, Flame Princess flew back to the floor and landed beside her mother. She had spent most of the morning helping to decorate the castle for tomorrow's festival, which was one of her favourite celebrations of the year. Ever since she'd been a small toddler she'd loved the fireworks show that took place at dusk, fascinated by the multi-coloured pyrotechnics that lit the sky.

Bubblegum had explained that the colours and patterns were due to chemical compounds, which had backfired on her when the five year-old Flame Princess had gotten curious about how that worked, then gotten into her chemistry supplies. The fire girl had spent the next few hours in time out in the test chamber, with half of her body burning bright green and the other half an equally lurid blue.

"I think that's everything," the candy princess said as she looked around the Grand Hall critically. "Thank you for helping Feuer, the flowers look totally math. Now I just need to finish the fireworks, and you know what that means."

"That means I need to stay away from the lab until you're done," Flame Princess replied. "Because I can ignite black powder just by being near it."

"And that's not your fault," Bubblegum added. "It's just a side effect of your physiology." She had always been careful to make sure that the fire girl understood that it wasn't her fault when things like gunpowder and touch paper still spontaneously ignited around her no matter how carefully she controlled her combustion. There would always be some things Flame Princess would have to stay away from, but that was due to chemistry and physics and not anything she was doing wrong.

"I know Mom, but I can still set them off tomorrow, right?" the young elemental asked hopefully. She loved watching the fireworks explode overhead, like bright flowers of flame, and by igniting them it was almost like she was giving them life.

The candy princess nodded in agreement; although the fire girl couldn't handle the rockets, once they were properly set up at a safe distance from each other it was easy enough for her to light them individually. "Just don't land on the roof until Starchy's done placing them."

"Yeah, I know, I'll be careful." Lifting back into the air, Flame Princess levitated up to one of the open windows. "I'm gonna go flying for a while so I don't get in anyone's way while they're getting things set up for tomorrow night, okay?"

"Just don't go too far," her mother cautioned, waving to the fire girl as she flew out of the window. Since Flame Princess was nearly ten years old now, and her flight abilities had only improved as she'd grown, the girl was allowed to fly around the Candy Kingdom without Lady Rainicorn escorting her. The candy people had no fear of the young elemental these days and their only reaction to seeing her streak overhead was to wave.

Bubblegum hadn't told Flame Princess that the mysterious light out on the Grass Lands had been at Marceline's old tree fort. Or that it was Finn and Jake who had moved in. Since she didn't know exactly when they would visit, and she'd known that the fire girl would be on edge until they arrived, Bubblegum had decided to let it be a surprise. The worst reaction that could happen was some light scorching; Flame Princess hadn't reacted to anything with uncontrolled fire since Lemongrab. That was why the candy people no longer feared her, if anything the story of what had happened to the Earl had only endeared the fire girl to them. Bubblegum wasn't sure exactly how she should feel about that…

o.o.o.o.o

Soaring effortlessly around one of the towers on the outskirts of the city, Flame Princess circled it a few times to build momentum. Clamping her arms to her sides, she gradually increased her speed then used it to slingshot herself towards one of the Gumball Guardians. Arcing through the air like a bolt of flame, the fire girl had flashed through the Guardian's bubble wand before it could even register her approach. It blinked as it realised the bubble membrane had been evaporated by the young elemental flying through it, but by the time it looked up, all it could see were fading contrails of flame.

"Hey!" it boomed irritably, hearing the faint echoes of an apology then shaking the wand until the membrane reformed. "Kids…" it muttered as it returned to blowing bubbles. At least this time the girl had managed to launch herself through the wand instead of impacting with its head or the wall.

Giggling as she flew onwards, following the curve of the kingdom wall, Flame Princess hoped the Guardian hadn't been too annoyed. It hadn't been very amused by her previous attempts to launch herself through the metal ring on its bubble wand, except for the time where she'd completely misjudged her aim and slammed into the section of wall it was sitting on instead of its back or head. It had found that hilarious once it had realised what had caused the loud thud. Fortunately she'd managed to slow down enough to only get a few bruises from the impact, though she had left a large scorch mark on the inner wall that she'd had to scrub away before her mother noticed.

Pulling upwards, Flame Princess shot high into the air, not stopping until she was higher than the giant tree at the centre of the Candy Castle. The fire girl had learned early on that there were limits to how high she could fly; once she reached eight thousand feet the reduced oxygen levels would slow her combustion and tire her out much faster. Higher than that, and she ran the risk of passing out, then dropping to earth like a stone. It had never been an issue for her though as she never went above the clouds. Flying through them felt like what rolling in hot coals would be like for anyone else. Rain was even worse; she couldn't even stay airborne if it was more than light drizzle.

But thankfully the summer weather was warm and bright; the only clouds Flame Princess could see were those hanging over the Ice Kingdom to the northeast. Then, as her gaze swung further to the east and the rolling hills of the Grass Lands, she caught sight of what she first thought was an extremely unusual creature. It looked like some kind of strange quadrupedal beast with impossibly long, spindly legs that raised it almost as high as she was, and propelled it across the hills with incredible speed, each step covering at least a hundred feet. It was coming straight for the Candy Kingdom.

Quickly darting over to land above the main gate, Flame Princess kept a careful eye on the bizarre creature as it approached, generating a fireball between her palms and turning it over and over like a snowball, packing the flame into liquid plasma. Neither of the Gumball Guardians were reacting, which suggested that this thing wasn't a threat, but the fire girl still wasn't convinced. She supposed that it could be a visitor from another kingdom here for the solstice, but the only thing she'd ever seen that had looked anything like it had been in a book about the demons of the Nightosphere.

Then, as the beast rapidly grew closer, Flame Princess almost dropped the fireball in shock as she saw its face, and recognised it at once. For a moment she thought it was Jermaine, then realised the eyebrows were different, and remembered the stretching arms that had snagged Finn out of the tree stump they'd hidden in back in the grounds of the Royal Congressional Hall. It was Jake. And the head poking up over his shoulder, which she'd assumed to be the strange creature's second head, was a rider. Who she also recognised immediately.

_"Uhm... Goodbye I guess," the human boy said awkwardly, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Maybe I'll come visit you in the Candy Kingdom if you still live there when I'm older?"_

"Finn!" Clapping her hands together to smash the fireball between them into fading shreds of flame, the young elemental launched herself back into the air and headed to meet the boy and his brother, laughing excitedly.

o.o.o.o.o

"I swear to Glob, Finn, if you ask just one more time, you're walking the rest of the way." Jake grumbled as he strode across the hills with ease. "I already told ya, running on all fours is harder than it looks, 'specially when it's like you're on freakin' stilts."

"Okay Jake," the boy sighed. "But are we nearly there yet? Woah!" Finn had to clutch tightly to Jake's fur as the dog stopped abruptly, almost throwing him off.

"Warned you, bro." Digging his feet into the ground, Jake refused to take another step. "Either ya get off, or I roll over. Your choice."

"Oh come on Jake, I'm sorry already!" the boy wailed. "I was only gonna ask that one more time. This is total junk. I bet you don't even know the way to the Candy Kingdom."

"What, you mean that big castle over there?" Jake asked casually, pointing towards it as he shrank back to his usual size and stood up. "The one that's gonna take ya forever to get to on those stubby legs of yours?" He grinned at the crestfallen look on his brother's face before turning back towards the castle. "Looks like it's still a good few miles away. Bet you wish you'd left that backpack at the tree now. Have fun, bro."

Finn glared at Jake sulkily, folding his arms. "You suck, man. But I am totally gonna walk it, just you wait and see. Piece of cake."

"Yeah, cake sounds good about now." Stretching his legs out to their previous length, Jake waved down at the boy. "I think I'll go get some. They've got this great little patisserie over on the west side, I'll meet you there. Might be closed by the time you arrive though." The dog began to chuckle at Finn's expression, but the sound died in his throat as a bright flash caught the corner of his eye. "Uhhhh… actually we should probably take cover. Looks like they've launched a missile at us."

"They WHAT?!" Finn gasped as Jake hit the ground, covering his head. He looked up to see a glowing shape streaking low across the grass towards them, but before he could throw himself down like his brother, it had reached them and snatched him into the air.

"You remembered to visit!" Flame Princess was so glad to see the human boy that she didn't even notice that she was unconsciously singing his shirt. "I thought you'd forgotten all about me!"

"Flame Princess!" Finn's voice was equally enthusiastic, and not only did he fail to realise that faint wisps of smoke were rising from where her hands had caught hold of his clothes, he also didn't see the huge hand that stretched up beside them, then slapped them both to the ground like a gigantic flyswatter.

"You okay there Finn?" Jake asked worriedly. He hadn't gotten a good look at the thing that had grabbed his brother - it had been moving too fast - but luckily he'd been able to catch them both before it could make off with Finn. Then he yelped as something burned his hand, before quickly snatching it away. "Ow! Globbit, what in the math IS that… oh nuts, it's a princess." Even if he'd never seen Flame Princess before, the gem set in the girl's forehead was enough to confirm her royal status, and Jake chuckled nervously. "Uhhh, sorry your highness, I thought you were kidnapping my brother. False alarm. Wait, I know you…"

"It's Flame Princess, dude. Remember?" Finn explained as he helped the fire girl back to her feet. "You okay?" he asked worriedly. "Sorry about Jake, he's a freaking bonehead sometimes."

"Hey!" the dog objected indignantly, but neither of them paid any attention to him.

"I'm fine," the fire girl replied, dusting herself off as the grass and dirt sticking to her was reduced to ashes with a quick blast of heat. "I did kind of surprise you, it's not Jake's fault. Uhm…" She shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other, looking downwards as she scored faint scorch lines in the ground with one toe. "You were coming to visit me, right? I didn't just jump you for no reason, did I?"

"No, we were totally coming to visit," Finn reassured her. "Didn't your mom tell you? She came over to our tree fort the other night because she wanted to know who was living there."

Flame Princess was bewildered for a moment until she remembered the light she'd seen out on the Grass Lands after the meteor shower. She had asked Princess Bubblegum about it the next morning, but all her mother had told her was that it was nothing to worry about. "No, she never said anything about it being you guys. I wonder why…"

"You don't think it's because she doesn't want us hanging out, do you?" Finn looked worried now. "I mean, she said we could visit whenever she wanted… this isn't like Opposite Kingdom where you have to do the opposite of whatever they tell you, right?"

Before Finn could get himself confused trying to apply reversed logic, Jake quickly interrupted him. "She probably just wanted it to be a surprise. I wouldn't worry about it," the dog told him. "This isn't like Opposite Kingdom."

His brother looked at him suspiciously, and not without reason. "Are you messing with me again Jake? That's just what you'd say if it WAS like Opposite Kingdom here. You spent that whole adventure telling me to do exactly what I wasn't to do because I was supposed to do the opposite because…" Groaning, the boy rubbed at his temples in confusion. "Ugh, now I have a logic ache again…"

"Uhh, I don't know what Opposite Kingdom is…" Flame Princess looked even more perplexed than Finn. "But you don't have to do the opposite of what people say in the Candy Kingdom. That would be totally gronked. And Jake's probably right," she added. "My mom probably wanted it to be a surprise; I told her all about you and she never said anything about not being allowed to hang out with you."

"Yeah, so stop getting yourself confused and get on," Jake said, getting back on all fours and morphing to the rough size and shape of a headless horse. "But only because I want to get you to the Candy Kingdom faster so you'll stop freaking out about it being Opposite Kingdom."

"Mathematical!" Leaping onto Jake's back, Finn looked back towards Flame Princess. "You wanna ride on Jake too, Princess?" He didn't see the way his brother winced at the suggestion, but Jake made no objection and just gritted his teeth instead, hoping that Flame Princess wouldn't burn his back like she had his hand.

"No, I can just fly back," the fire girl replied, and Jake breathed a silent sigh of relief. "Follow me!" Flame Princess took off towards the castle and the dog followed, stretching his legs out to keep up with her as Finn clung to his back.

"Man, she's pretty fast," Jake commented to his brother, who was watching Flame Princess with a mixture of admiration and envy. "You should ask if she wants to come adventuring with us sometime; having a lantern that can fly would be really useful in a dungeon."

"Jake!" Finn's voice was outraged. "She is not a lantern, she's a princess! Princesses don't go into dungeons! Well, except for Skeleton Princess. And Jailer Princess. And sometimes Beetle Princess. But they're supposed to be in dungeons. Normal princesses don't do that kind of junk. They're girls."

The dog chuckled, slowing his pace to let Flame Princess get further ahead of them. "Bro, you have a lot to learn about ladies, you can't just assume they don't do certain things because they're girls. Let me tell you a story about Grandma and how she met Grandpa…"

* * *

**A/N: **Finally, Finn and Jake get properly involved in the story, hurrah! Unfortunately Marceline still won't be showing up for a while but hey, ADVENTURE! That decorpsinator serum should be getting a field test at some point...

Thanks for all your reviews so far guys/gals, they are always appreciated!


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer:** Adventure Time belongs to Pendleton Ward/Cartoon Network. Thanks to Rinney and Anna for proof reading.

* * *

"And that is why girls are just as good at adventures as guys." Jake was just finishing his story as they drew up to the gates of the Candy Kingdom. "And also how our grandparents met. If it hadn't been for that dungeon then we wouldn't even be here."

"Woah, that was totally math! Grandma kicked so much butt!" Finn had been silent for most of Jake's tale, listening intently with wide eyes and occasionally kicking his brother without thinking when it got tense. "Was she really part wolf?"

"Well, her maiden name was 'the Wolfdog', so I'd assume so, yeah." Jake replied. "Though she did look a lot like Dad so I think the wolf part was a good few generations back."

"It's still awesome though," Finn went on, his eyes shining. "I wish I was part wolf. What happened to the evil wax golem that Grandpa was trapped in? Did it escape after Grandma sliced it open, since being cut to bits by Grandpa didn't stop it before?"

"Heck, no!" Jake snorted indignantly. "Like she was gonna let that thing get away. She melted it down and made it into scented candles, because Grandma was freaking hardcore. Maybe that still didn't kill it," he added with a shrug. "But those candles were still in her bathroom forty years later. She used to say that if you listened real hard while they were burning, you'd still hear the golem screeching."

"Mathematical..." Finn breathed softly, then looked up to see the cream walls looming over them. "Oh hey, we're here! Where did Flame Princess go?"

"I think she just flew over the wall, dude." Stopping by the moat, Jake waited for Finn to jump off his back, and then returned to his normal form. "We should use the front door though; it's more polite since we don't live here. Oh, and don't eat anything that has a face. If it has a face, it's not food."

Finn was looking around himself curiously; the sweet smells of the Candy Kingdom starting to make him hungry. "I thought the kingdom was just made of candy," he remarked. "Are the people candy too? Flame Princess isn't candy..."

In response, Jake just pointed ahead of them as they strolled across the drawbridge and into the gatehouse. Candy people were bustling around the plaza that the gatehouse opened on to, a marshmallow sweeping the paving stones, a couple of gumdrops hanging bright streamers from the lampposts and two Banana Guards keeping watch on the inner gate. "I keep forgetting you've not been here before, bro," Jake said, chuckling at the look on Finn's face. "It's a pretty awesome place, but remember, no eating things that have a face."

"Hey guys," Flame Princess landed in front of them, looking somewhat contrite. "Sorry, I went straight to the castle. I forgot that you wouldn't be able to fly over the walls like me." She waved to the Banana Guards, who nodded respectfully in return.

"That's okay, Jake said it would be more polite for us to use the gate since we don't live here," Finn replied quickly. "What are all the decorations for?"

"They're for the Summer Solstice Saturnalia tomorrow night," Flame Princess advised helpfully. "You should definitely come to that, it's totally awesome."

"Yeah, it's like an all-night party," Jake added. "I've been before; it's a great time for ste- SEEING the Candy Kingdom. Do you still have the big fireworks display at midnight?"

The young elemental nodded enthusiastically in response. "Yes, that's my favourite part! And I get to stay up all night which is pretty math as well. First everyone watches the sun set then there's the fireworks then four hours later the sun rises again. And there's music and food and a big bonfire in the park. Mom says that people used to believe that the fire drove witches and evil spirits away but there's witches who come to the festival so that's just another reason why superstition is a bunch of junk."

"They're not evil witches, are they?" Finn asked suspiciously. "Because if they are then I have to punch them, that's hero rules."

Flame Princess thought about that for a moment, then shrugged. "Well, I don't remember them doing anything bad," she replied. "And the Gumball Guardians wouldn't let them in if they were evil."

"Oh." The human boy looked disappointed as he lowered the fists that he'd already raised in anticipation. "Never mind then." He was about to ask more about the festival when he was abruptly interrupted by Jake as the dog caught sight of something in the sky.

"Woah, does Lady Rainicorn come to this thing too?" Jake asked, watching her loop lazily through the sky towards the Candy Castle. His eyes were wide and shining, and Finn exchanged a confused glance with Flame Princess. Neither of them quite understood the dog's reaction to seeing Lady.

"Yes," Flame Princess waved to Lady as she replied, the rainicorn waved back but didn't stop. "She turns the castle all bright colours for the night; she's probably going to see my mom."

"Maybe we should go see your mom as well," Jake suggested eagerly. "Since, uh, she did invite us here and all, it would be polite. And Finn, didn't you want to ask if you could be a knight for the kingdom?"

"Yeah, I totally did!" the boy exclaimed. "You think she'd let me?" The question was directed at both his brother and Flame Princess. "She's not going to say I'm too young or anything? How old are the other knights?"

"Uhhhh..." The fire girl considered that, and then shook her head. "I don't think the Candy Kingdom HAS any knights," she said with a shrug. "Just Banana Guards. I bet she'd let you be a knight though," Flame Princess added reassuringly. "What does a knight even do?"

"A knight fights monsters, and rescues princesses - or princes - and goes on quests and adventures and explores dungeons and helps people and..." Finn's explanation was both enthusiastic and rapid, accompanied by dramatic gestures which culminated in him drawing a golden-bladed sword. "...and they're total heroes!" he finished, thrusting the weapon into the air. "Just like my dad."

"Yeah, yeah, just like Dad," Jake seemed to be getting impatient, shifting from one foot to the other as he looked towards the castle. Lady Rainicorn had already landed on a balcony and disappeared inside. "So let's go see the Princess like right now and see what she says."

"Okay Jake," Finn agreed willingly, sliding his sword back into the loops on his backpack then looking towards Flame Princess. "Can you take us to see your mom?"

The young elemental shook her head reluctantly. "No, not right now. Mom's working on the fireworks for tomorrow night," she explained. "So I have to keep away because I'm incandescent and I can light things like phosphorus and magnesium just by being near them because they're pyrophoric. It's not so bad once they're in rockets, but till then I can't be in the same room, and Mom prefers it if I'm not even in the castle in case there's an accident. But you can still go," she added, not without a touch of disappointment. "I'm sure she'd see you."

If anything, Finn seemed even less enamoured by the prospect of leaving Flame Princess behind. "Oh. I was kind of hoping we could hang out for a while, I've never been to the Candy Kingdom before and I'd like to look around, this place seems totally rad..."

"Well how about I go see Lady Ra- I mean Princess Bubblegum - while you kids socialise?" Jake said quickly, glancing back at them. "After all Finn, you won't need me to show you around if you're with Flame Princess. She'll know more about this place than I do anyway since she lives here."

"Yeah, I can show you around!" the fire girl said happily. "I know all about the Candy Kingdom, I've lived here my whole life."

"Okay!" It took less than a second for Finn to make up his mind, nodding eagerly. "I'll see you later Jake... Jake?" But the dog was already disappearing along the main thoroughfare that led to the castle.

"Yeahseeyoulaterbye," his voice floated back to them. "And stay out of trouble!" With that, he turned a corner and disappeared from view.

"Huh, I wonder what's got Jake so wound up…" Finn pondered, frowning slightly. "You don't think your mom's going to think I'm not polite because I'm not going to see her too, do you?" he asked anxiously, but Flame Princess shook her head. "Okay then… uhm… you wanna go get something to eat?"

o.o.o.o.o

A short while later, the human boy and the fire girl were sitting outside a small café, where the lollipop man at the counter inside had steadfastly refused to accept payment for their food. He had insisted that he wouldn't have made Princess Bubblegum pay, and since Flame Princess was her daughter, that applied to her as well. The young elemental had thanked him bashfully, then headed outside with Finn who had seemed extremely impressed.

It had only taken moments for Flame Princess to reduce her cupcake to ashes between her hands, which the human boy seemed taken aback by, but he hadn't commented. Though he was definitely eating his oversized slice of apple pie faster than was healthy.

"S' really goo'," he said with his mouth full, then paused and swallowed. "I mean it's really good. Almost as good as the ones Tree Trunks makes."

"You know Tree Trunks?" Flame Princess perked up at the mention of the pygmy elephant's name. She'd only met her a few times, but the fire girl liked the softly spoken pachyderm.

"Yeah, she was friends with my mom," Finn explained, taking another bite of his pie. "She lives near me and Jake's tree fort; she brought us apple pies the day we moved in. And I still don't know how she knew we were there, but Jake said it was old lady intuition. How do you know her?"

Flame Princess couldn't help giggling at the question as she remembered. "Oh, it was when I was still really small. Pepbutt, sorry, Peppermint Butler was supposed to be watching me, but I got out of the castle and ran off into the woods…"

o.o.o.o.o

_"Flame Princess you get back here right now or I am going to tell your mother!" Peppermint Butler's yell was loud enough to reach the little elemental's ears, but the words meant very little to the two year-old fire girl. She liked the chasing game, and unlike the mint man she didn't have to stop to quickly stamp out the small fires that formed in her wake._

_This time however, the trees were safe. Flame Princess was more interested in keeping away from Peppermint Butler than setting them alight. Besides, these ones had lots of red things hanging from them, bright as live coals, and she liked the colour. She could hear Peppermint's shouts still echoing behind her, and then she stopped dead and toppled onto her backside with a bump as she heard an unfamiliar, female voice._

_"Lan' sakes, Peppermint, are you up to some awful, unglobly business in these here woods again?" The speaker was a tiny yellow-green elephant who trundled out of the bushes carrying a picnic basket on her back and looking distinctly displeased. "Ah already told you it makes the apples go sour, and sour apples ain't no good to..." The miniature elephant stopped mid-sentence as she noticed Flame Princess, but didn't show any sign of fear. "Oh, hello there missy. Are you lost?"_

_Stumbling back to her feet, the little elemental chuckled and ran towards this new creature with her hands outstretched, expecting her to make loud noises and run away so she could chase after. Instead, the elephant held up her trunk placatingly, only flinching a little at the heat beating off the fire girl._

_"Woah there sugar, y'all are hotter than a darn oven after a hard day's baking. Just give me a minute…" Again, the words made little sense to Flame Princess, but they were calm and unhurried, which threw her a little. The only other person who spoke like that to her was the pink lady that she thought was her mother. Poking her trunk into the picnic basket, the elephant seemed to feel around in it for a moment, then pulled it back out, this time with an oven mitt over it. "There we go. My name's Tree Trunks, what's yours?"_

_Flame Princess' response was a confused gurgle. Things not running away from her was a relatively new experience, and she wasn't sure if she liked it. Making a loud noise that was half chortle and half excited squeal, she windmilled small arms at Tree Trunks in an attempt to make her run away. Instead, the elephant patted her on the head with her gloved trunk._

_"Oh, ah see. Y'all are just a little thing, ain't ya? How 'bout you simmer down and sit a spell, an' we can have tea?" As Tree Trunks turned away to search her basket again, Flame Princess plopped back down onto the lightly smouldering grass, bewildered by the lack of running, but reassured by the elephant's soothing voice. "Here we are," Tree Trunks continued, pulling a copper kettle out of the basket, and passing it to Flame Princess. "Hold this a second, will you sweetpea?"_

_The kettle sloshed as the fire girl automatically took hold of it with both hands, and she looked at it curiously. The metal rapidly began to heat in her grasp, then to her amazement it started making an odd, warbling whistle as steam hissed out of its spout. Tree Trunks looked around in surprise, lifting a small bundle of firewood from her basket._

_"Well, ah'll be," the pygmy elephant exclaimed. "You boiled that all by yourself, ain't that handy? Just as well really, 'cause ah ain't the best when it comes to woodcraft, takes me forever to get a decent fire going." Seeing that Flame Princess was reaching towards the jet of steam with a curious hand, Tree Trunks held out her trunk to stop her. "Woah there sugar, you don't wanna be touching that. Could give yourself a nasty burn."_

_Lowering her hand obediently, Flame Princess let the miniature elephant take the kettle from her and place it down. She watched with interest as Tree Trunks produced a pair of china teacups and saucers from the basket, setting one in front of herself and the other in front of the fire girl, then filled both with dark amber liquid from the kettle._

_"Well, ah'm afraid ah don't got any milk with me," Tree Trunks said apologetically. "But it's Earl Grey, so it's good without it too." Shaking her trunk out of the oven mitt, she used it to lift her teacup to her mouth and sip at it delicately. Flame Princess watched her with some confusion, then took a long, hard look at her own cup. It reminded her of the liquid she'd seen back in the castle gardens, only that had been in a big pool in the ground. She'd put a hand in it and it had hurt so badly that all the plants within a ten-foot radius had been incinerated when she'd screamed._

_Cautiously reaching out towards the cup, feeling more confident as she felt the heat coming off it, Flame Princess gingerly poked at the contents with one finger. There was an immediate hiss as a thread of steam rose up from her fingertip which seared with pain as she snatched it away, whimpering. _

_"Oh good heavens!" Seizing the girl's teacup in her trunk before there were any further mishaps. Tree Trunks hurriedly emptied it onto the ground. "Ah'm so very sorry about that, sweetpea. Ah should have realised that you're one of those fire elemental types. But you're just so nice and polite next to those dreadful hooligans that ah never guessed, ah thought you must be some other type."_

_The fire girl had instinctively put her finger in her mouth, the pain fading as it warmed again. The shock had frightened her more than it had hurt her, but Tree Trunks' gentle voice calmed her before she could set anything on fire. In a hazy, baby way she was beginning to realise that although she liked being on fire, the people around her didn't. Fire hurt them like water hurt her and while she did enjoy the chasing game; she didn't want to hurt anyone. So when Tree Trunks took her hand with her re-gloved trunk to examine it, Flame Princess let her instead of reacting with fire._

_Inspecting the little elemental's hand carefully, Tree Trunks sighed in relief as she saw that the darkened finger was rapidly brightening again. "There we go, no harm done." Letting the girl's hand go, the pygmy elephant patted it comfortingly. "Who's a brave girl then?" Reaching back into the basket, Tree Trunks pulled out a large oatmeal cookie and handed it to Flame Princess. "There you go sugar, have that instead."_

_The cookie immediately began to singe in Flame Princess' grasp, but this was something she understood. She'd been given these things before. Putting it in her mouth, she gnawed on it as it burst into flames. Tree Trunks didn't seem perturbed by this in the slightest, and continued to calmly drink her tea._

_That was how Peppermint Butler found them a few minutes later when he stumbled through the trees, gasping for breath. He'd lost track of Flame Princess once she'd quietened down, so it had taken him a while to locate her, and he stopped dead in amazement as he saw her sitting with a remarkably unscorched Tree Trunks. The mint man was too worn out to run over to them and walked across to where they were sitting instead. This was fortunate for him as running would have immediately indicated to Flame Princess that the chasing game was back on._

_"There you are!" Peppermint exclaimed as he reached them, exasperated but extremely glad that he'd found her. He'd been starting to worry that he'd actually lost her, which would have been extremely difficult to explain to Princess Bubblegum._

_"Oh, howdy Peppermint," Tree Trunks said politely as Flame Princess waved an ash-dusted hand at him cheerfully. "Want some tea?"_

_"What? I… well… yes, actually." Peppermint Butler was thirsty after his run through the woods, and it didn't look like Flame Princess was about to start running away again. He sat down beside them, keeping a careful eye on the fire girl, but she seemed perfectly happy where she was. "I must have been chasing her for hours, how did you get her to stay put?" Despite himself, the mint man was extremely curious about that detail._

_"Well, you probably just got her all riled up," Tree Trunks replied as she poured him a cup of tea and pushed it over to him. "She's been no trouble at all; she's a nice, polite young lady."_

_"Of course she is," Peppermint muttered sarcastically to himself as he lifted the cup. "Tell that to Toast Princess…"_

o.o.o.o.o

Finn was giggling helplessly as Flame Princess finished the story; he'd been laughing since she'd described the tiny elephant's initial reaction to her. "That sounds like Tree Trunks," he sniggered. "Me and Jake were fighting this mean dragon out in her woods while she was picking apples, and she just kept on picking them while the dragon was knocking over trees and junk, saying 'you boys have fun' or something like that."

"She was the first person apart from my mom who didn't scream and run away when they saw me," Flame Princess explained. "When I was little I thought it was funny, but it was really because people were scared that I'd set them on fire."

"That kinda sucks," Finn said sympathetically. "But people don't do that now, right?"

Flame Princess shook her head. "Not any more, I don't set things on fire accidentally now. Unless they're pyrophoric, then I can't help it," she added. "But none of the candy people are like that so it's fine."

"So… uhm…" Finn shifted nervously in his seat, feeling awkward about his next question. "Are you part candy person? I wasn't sure because of the being made of fire thing, but then I thought maybe you're a type of candy that's also fire but I couldn't think of the type of candy that would be and, uhhhh…" His voice trailed off uneasily as the fire girl looked away, eyes downcast.

"Princess Bubblegum isn't my real mom," Flame Princess' voice was quiet; the confession sounding like it had been torn from her by force. "She adopted me when I was a baby. But she's still my mom," she continued obstinately. "And if anyone says otherwise I will light them on fire!"

"It's okay, I understand," Finn replied, his tone conciliatory. "Actually I think it's really neat that you're adopted, because…"

"You what?!" Recoiling at those words, Flame Princess pulled away from the table, hurt by the seemingly casual dismissal of her abandonment. She didn't find it neat in the slightest, some days she wished that she'd never even found out about it in the first place. "Why would you even say that?"

Looking both surprised and remorseful at her reaction, Finn drew back slightly, looking away awkwardly. "Uhm… because I'm adopted too?" he offered lamely, the words coming out as a nervous squeak. "So I totally understand what it's like…"

"Oh. I see." Pulling her seat back over to the table, feeling slightly foolish now, Flame Princess glanced towards the human boy. His head was lowered; a sweep of long blonde hair escaping from under his hat to hang across his eyes, but a glint of blue between golden strands told her that he was still looking at her timidly. "Sorry, I thought you were making fun of me," she said apologetically. "So… you were adopted as well? What happened to your parents?"

Strangely, Finn seemed to brighten at that question. Perhaps because Flame Princess was no longer angry with him. "I don't know," he replied as he raised his head. "I was only a little baby when Jake's mom and dad found me in the forest. I don't remember my real parents, or how I got there, just that I was all alone and I cried and cried because I'd… uhh… gotten stuck to a leaf but nobody helped me until Jake's parents found me and took me home. What about you?"

Flame Princess' expression had softened after hearing Finn's story, since she could emphasize with him completely. "I don't remember my real parents either," she replied. "The first thing I do remember is that there was lots of fire, then my mom found me. She said I came from the Fire Kingdom, but I don't remember how I got to the surface." The fire girl paused, her expression twisting sourly. "She said my father didn't have time for me, so she adopted me. I don't know what happened to my birth mother."

"I'm sorry," Finn's face was drawn with sympathetic pain. "I don't know why my parents left me in the woods, maybe something happened to them and they were trying to hide me. Nobody's ever seen another human in Ooo so I guess that they're dead. Your dad sounds like a total butt though."

"It's okay, I don't even care about him," Flame Princess' was trying to sound nonchalant, but couldn't hide the edge of defiance in her tone. "I've never even seen him. I've lived in the Candy Kingdom since I was a baby so this is my home, and Princess Bubblegum is my mom. That's all that matters to me."

Fin n nodded in agreement. "I totally get you on that. Except for the part about the Candy Kingdom being my home because I live in a tree. But Jake's parents were my parents, and that's all that was important to me. It doesn't matter who your real parents are."

The fire girl smiled shyly, glad that he understood. Ever since she'd found out that she was adopted she'd had an unsettling doubt at the back of her mind that maybe she didn't belong in the Candy Kingdom after all, but for Finn to just accept it at face value was reassuring. "Do you still want to go look around the kingdom?" she asked, and he nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, that would be math!" Finn sprang to his feet and Flame Princess followed suit. "Where should we go first?"

"We could go to the castle gardens," she suggested. "That'll be okay because it's not inside the castle, and Mom has all sorts of weird plants growing there. Have you ever seen a Sleeping Gate Bramble?"

"Nope, what does it do?" Following Flame Princess as she headed off through the streets, Finn quickly caught up with her and took her hand without thinking. His mother had always told him it was very important not to get separated when he was in a strange place. Though his father had always added that dungeons didn't count because then you kept hitting things until it stopped being strange. However, the Candy Kingdom was most definitely not a dungeon.

Starting slightly at the unexpected contact, Flame Princess only just managed to keep her combustion levels under control instead of letting them rise in surprise. The young elemental looked back at Finn to see that he apparently didn't think anything of it and was looking around at the buildings with interest. He also didn't seem bothered by the fact that her hand was much hotter than his own, as if that was perfectly natural as well.

Feeling her face flush regardless, the fire girl quickly looked away, hoping Finn hadn't noticed. But she didn't let go of his hand.

* * *

**A/N: **Okay, since I missed my usual midweek update, here is an extra-long chapter to make up for it, with an extra-long flashback as well. And awwww, the kids are bonding over their sad origins. Hopefully there might actually be some adventure soon...


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer:** Adventure Time belongs to Pendleton Ward/Cartoon Network. Thanks to Rinney and Anna for proof reading.

* * *

With a ferocious yell, Finn launched himself forwards, his scratched fists flailing wildly. Just like the last three times, the Sleeping Gate Bramble met his charge with vegetative indifference as he crashed into it with as much effect as he would have had on a brick wall. The impact hurled him backwards to the ground, winding him, as Flame Princess giggled.

"I told you it wouldn't work," the young elemental said, shaking her head. She was suspended in the middle of the circular hedgerow that the bramble formed in the palace garden with only her head poking out, the plant's dense branches holding her up and completely immune to her heat levels. She'd already shown Finn how she could blast the bramble with fire for ten minutes and achieve nothing except to form a thin layer of soot on its leaves. "I didn't even feel that."

Getting back to his feet with a growl - still unable to accept that he'd been beaten by a hedge that wasn't even sentient - Finn drew his sword. It was bad enough that he couldn't force his way through this thing, but for some reason the fact that Flame Princess was watching his repeated failures made him feel ten times worse. And ten times angrier at the plant that had embarrassed him. Rushing towards the bramble, he swung his sword at it as hard as he could.

"No, Finn, wait!" Flame Princess' warning came too late as the weapon's golden blade struck the plant's branches with a spray of sparks and a discordant clang of sundered metal that set her teeth on edge. Finn yelled in pain as the shockwave vibrated through his bones as if they were tuning forks, the sword hilt dropping from his nerveless fingers. The blade had broken cleanly at the point where it had struck the bramble, which was completely unscathed. An entire foot of the sword blade had been catapulted backwards by the impact, narrowly missing the human boy, and was now quivering like a lawn dart in the grass behind him.

"Are you okay?" the fire girl asked anxiously. She tried to move towards him, but as she had tensed from shock and concern, the bramble held her firmly in place. "Ah, glob!" Closing her eyes, Flame Princess took several deep, calming breaths like her mother had taught her and tried to relax. She slowly sunk through the branches to the ground, though they tugged mutinously at her skin and clothes as if the plant wasn't entirely convinced by her sudden tranquillity. Flame Princess knew that if she let that bother her, she'd just get stuck again, and focused on staying relaxed as she calmly stepped out of the hedge to where Finn was hopping around in a tight, pained circle as he tried to shake some feeling back into his numb hands.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Although he was trying to laugh it off, Finn's voice came out as a choked grimace rather than the casual chuckle he'd intended. Turning his back on the fire girl with feigned nonchalance so that she wouldn't see him blushing bright red from sheer humiliation, Finn's eyes widened in horror as he saw the golden blade half-buried in the turf. Glancing down to the hilt at his feet, he yelped as he saw that over half the blade was missing. "Oh no!" This time he didn't even try to disguise his tone, which was now a shrill squawk of dismay. "My dad gave me that sword! I can't believe I broke it..."

Flame Princess watched silently as the boy dropped to his knees and lifted the broken hilt as tenderly as if it was an infant instead of a weapon, turning it over and over in his hands as if he thought that might somehow fix it. She couldn't help feeling responsible for what had happened; it had been her idea to go to the palace gardens. And she should have warned him not to try using a weapon on the Sleeping Gate Bramble. Going over to where the broken blade had landed, the fire girl tugged it free and brought it back to Finn, sitting beside him as she handed it to him. "I'm sorry," she said apologetically as he took it from her. "I should have said not to try and cut the bramble..."

Finn didn't look up, infinitely glad that he had managed to swallow back his tears but uncomfortably aware that his eyes were still wet and shining. "It wasn't your fault," he replied, quietly and slowly to hide the tremble in his voice. "You did try to warn me, but I didn't listen. Jermaine always used to say that me and Jake listen to impulse before listening to our brains. I'm not sure what that means, but I think it's something to do with us doing dumb things before we realise they're dumb." He pressed the broken ends of the sword together in the momentary, foolish hope that they would somehow stick together. But he wasn't surprised when they didn't. "I can always get another sword," he added with forced brightness, finally raising his head to see that Flame Princess' gaze was fixed firmly on the sword as she rubbed her chin thoughtfully in unconscious imitation of her mother.

Watching Finn try to push the sword blade back into one piece had given the young elemental an idea. It had reminded her of glass working, taking two separate pieces of solid glass and heating the ends until they could be fused together in a permanent bond. Maybe she could do the same thing with metal, though she remembered her mother saying that metal had to be quenched in water to make it strong. That was why the fire girl wasn't allowed to try metalwork yet; Princess Bubblegum still thought that the water involved made it too dangerous for her. But it wouldn't be harmful to Finn.

"Follow me," she said as she got back to her feet and darted over to the bramble hedge. She could just have flown over it, but figured that it would be easier for Finn to get through it if he watched her first. "Like I showed you before; if you relax then you can slide right through." Taking a deep breath, Flame Princess exhaled slowly and let herself topple forwards into the bramble, offering no resistance. It glowed red around her, letting her pass through with ease.

Finn followed suit, with more than a little trepidation. But when he fell forwards, his face mashed into an impenetrable bramble thicket. "It's not working," he called to the fire girl, his voice muffled by foliage. He rocked his body against the hedge a couple of times, but it didn't shift in the slightest. "Is it holding a grudge?"

"No, that just means that you're not relaxed enough," Flame Princess replied from the other side. "Think of something that makes you calm."

There was a short, awkward pause as Finn racked his brains, briefly thinking about hot cocoa to no effect. Then it hit him: his mom's lullaby. Almost without thinking, he began to hum the melody and leaned his weight against the hedge. "...slip your slippers on your footies..." Automatically mumbling the words to himself, Finn slowly began to sink into the bramble. "In the morning you'll get- woah!" Suddenly it was as if the hedge was completely insubstantial and Finn fell through it like it was mist. He only just managed to raise his arms in time to stop himself from smashing face-first into uneven octagonal paving stones. "Where are we?" he asked as he looked around at what seemed to be an extremely neglected section of the gardens.

"This is the oldest part of the gardens," Flame Princess told him. "Mom says it's from before the Mushroom War. It was like this before the Candy Kingdom ever existed." The two children were standing at the edge of a wide circular plaza that had once been entirely paved, but now the octagonal stones had become lopsided and cracked by the roots of the plants growing around and between them. In the centre of the plaza was a tall fountain that was overgrown with moss and aquatic plants, but still functioning. A jet of water sprayed high into the air from the topmost bowl, then fell down into a larger one and cascaded over its sides into the main pool below. The entire plaza was surrounded by the Sleeping Gate Bramble, and here and there it had engulfed the broken and rusted remains of park benches. "Mom planted the hedge around it to protect it; she says she likes it this way because it reminds her of when she was little."

"This place must be mad old," Finn replied, slowly approaching the fountain and taking care not to trip on the jutting paving stones. Looking over the lip of the pool, he saw that the surface of the water was almost entirely covered by water lilies. A couple of frogs that were perched on the floating leaves looked at him curiously but didn't move, and he caught a glimpse of a huge golden shape drifting through the water below. "Hey, this is kinda like the pond out by me and Jake's tree fort. Except with a fountain."

Stepping up beside him, but keeping a respectful distance from the falling water, Flame Princess held out her hand. "Can I see your sword?" she asked, trying to remember what little she knew about metalworking. She'd read a bit about it when she'd been learning about glassworking but hadn't paid much attention. It needed a lot of heat like glass, but it also needed a hammer? Something to do with striking the metal while it was hot.

"Sure, here you go," the boy said, handing her the broken pieces. "Careful, it should still be wicked sharp." He watched curiously as the girl knelt down on the flattest section of paving that she could find, setting the blade and hilt on the ground in front of her and looking at them curiously. "Uhhhh... what are you doing?"

"Do you have a hammer?" Flame Princess was barely paying attention to him now, pushing the pieces of the sword together to see how they fit. A chip was missing from each side, but the break was perfectly clean and smooth; like broken glass. And she knew how to fix glass.

"Maybe, let me check..." Taking off his pack, Finn rummaged in it for a few moments then pulled out a slightly rusted claw hammer that he'd been using for repairs back at the tree fort. He'd put it in his pack afterwards because hammers were useful things to keep handy, as Flame Princess' request had just proved. "I've got this one," he continued, flipping it over in his grasp to offer the handle to the fire girl.

Taking the tool, the young elemental set it down next to herself. Picking up the broken sword, one piece in each hand, she held it firmly right where it had broken and glanced towards Finn with sudden concern. "It might be best if you moved away a bit," she advised. "This is gonna get really, really hot."

"Okay..." Finn's tone was doubtful, but he took several steps back all the same, following the curve of the fountain. Once she thought he was at a safe distance, Flame Princess turned her attention back to the sword then closed her eyes as she focused.

Visualising the heat currents running through her body in her mind's eye, the young elemental imagined channelling them into her hands instead of her hair. Frowning in concentration, her grip tightened on the broken blade though she took care not to cut herself. Metal conducted heat well, she knew that, and once her hands were hot she pictured the heat currents travelling into the sundered ends of the sword blade, heating them until they were pliable. A few moments later she felt the formerly hard steel give slightly in her grasp, her fingertips sinking into the heated metal, and she opened her eyes to see that both halves of the blade were glowing a dull red, brightening into an incandescent buttercup yellow along the broken edges.

Flame Princess heard Finn mutter something that sounded awestruck but paid no attention, concentrating on the sword. While constant practice and encouragement from her mother had made her reasonably adept at manipulating her combustion levels, losing her control over them when they were so tightly focused would result in them going wild until she got them back in hand, and she wasn't in a fireproof room this time. Shifting her grip on the broken weapon - its snapped edges softened from heat now instead of hard and clean - she carefully pushed the blade back together and gently set it down on the ground.

The near-molten metal merged together like thick glue, leaving an obvious seam where the two halves had joined but Flame Princess wasn't worried about that. Still with the same precise control, she gradually let her heat currents flow back into their normal patterns, flowing upwards to her hair. Waiting until she felt her hands cool, the fire girl lifted the hammer and began to strike the reformed sword blade with even, regular strokes.

"Woah!" Finn skipped backwards a bit further to avoid the sparks that went skittering across the uneven flagstones with each blow, then hopped up onto the lip of the fountain to get a better look at what Flame Princess was doing. "Why are you hitting it?" he asked curiously.

"To align the grain of the metal and get rid of the seam," the young elemental explained. "At least I think that's what hammering it does," she added with a note of hesitation. "Normally I make stuff with glass." Flipping the blade over, she hammered the other side as well, trying to get it as smooth as possible because that felt like the right thing to do. "Mom said I couldn't do metalwork 'til I was older because there's too much water involved." Continuing to hammer until she was satisfied and the metal had cooled enough to make the hilt safe for Finn to handle, she reversed her hold on the weapon and held it out to him pommel-first. "Here, you need to cool it in the fountain. But don't put it in the main pool, use the bigger bowl."

"Okay," the boy replied, gingerly taking hold of the hilt and relieved to find that although it was warm, it didn't burn. "Why not in the pool?" he asked curiously.

"Because you might hurt the things that live in there, silly," Flame Princess' tone indicated that she thought this was obvious. Since her mother liked this bit of the garden, she had no intention of damaging it. "I can lift you up there if it's too high."

"I don't need lifted!" Finn retorted indignantly, though in truth he was glad to have an opportunity to show off a little. Twirling the sword in his grasp, he hurled it upwards as hard and high as he could, then leapt for the fountain's lower bowl. His fingers snagged the worn stone edge, but one hand slipped on a patch of algae and lost its grip, leaving him dangling awkwardly by one arm as one of his feet splashed into the pool below.

Above him, the sword that was still glowing a baleful red reached the top of its arc and started to fall towards him. Flame Princess was about to launch herself into the air to catch it when Finn, who didn't seem concerned in the slightest, swung himself to the side and up with a powerful heave of his arm. Hooking one foot over the lip of the bowl, he rolled himself into it with a splash then sprang back to his feet and snatched the sword's hilt as it spun lazily through the air.

"See?" Finn asked, apparently completely indifferent to the fact that he was now soaking wet. "That was easy, I've done way more jacked-up things than that."

"That was totally spice!" Flame Princess was looking up at him with admiration, impressed by how he had caught the sword without burning himself. "I can't even go near the water."

Puffing up his chest and planting one foot on the lip of the bowl, Finn struck what he hoped was a nonchalantly heroic pose. "Awww, you should come on a dungeon crawl with me and Jake sometime if you thought that was neat. I didn't even have to fight… woah!" As his foot skidded on the exact same patch of algae that his hand had slid on earlier, Finn quickly regained his balance and cleared his throat awkwardly. "Uhhhh, anyway, so I just put the sword in the water now?"

"Yup," the fire girl replied. "Leave it there until it cools."

"Okay!" Plunging the sword into the fountain, Finn was immediately enveloped in a cloud of dense steam as the hot steel hissed and spat like a furious cat while the water bubbled. After a few minutes, the smoky fog began to dissipate as the bubbles became smaller then faded altogether. Beneath the surface of the water the steel slowly darkened back to its usual gold, and Finn cautiously drew it out. The blade was still steaming gently, but when the boy cautiously tapped it, it was cool enough to touch. He could still see a darker ripple through its midsection where it had broken but it looked perfectly intact, and felt the same as he chopped at the air with it experimentally. "This is mondo mathematical!" he shouted down to Flame Princess. "You totally fixed it!"

"Well, I could probably do better if I knew more about metalworking," Flame Princess said modestly as Finn jumped back to the ground in a single leap, rolling as he hit the ground then springing back to his feet and twirling his sword expertly in both hands. "I'll go back to the library and read some more about it. Maybe my mom will let me try it out now that I'm older."

"I could help!" Finn offered enthusiastically. "Water doesn't hurt me so I could do all the wet stuff so you don't have to. Why don't we ask your mom?"

Flame Princess considered that for a moment, then nodded. It had been several hours now since she had left the castle to go flying so her mother had probably finished working on the fireworks, and she could always check with Peppermint Butler first. "Okay, let's go. Maybe your brother Jake is still with her. We could ask if you guys are going to be knights now."

"Oh yeah." Truthfully, Finn had almost forgotten about both becoming a knight and Jake. But being a knight would mean he would have more reasons to hang out in the Candy Kingdom as well as getting to be a hero. He couldn't see any possible downsides.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, there had to be a reason that Princess Bubblegum knew how to get around a Sleeping Gate Bramble in 'Sky Witch'. And for those of you reading 'As The World Falls Down', yes that is the same fountain.

Majin Hentai X - It's actually never been confirmed for sure how Joshua and Margaret The Dogs died, only that they died before the start of the series. That might change with 'The Pit' when it airs, but for now it's a mystery.

As always, thanks for all the feedback, you guys are great!


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